Reducing the Impact of Extreme Heat to Improve Well-Being in Cities

Cities in the Global South experience extreme weather that impacts infrastructure and disproportionately affects the well-being of the urban poor. Extreme heat is an often hidden, yet chronic threat to urban populations, exacerbating vulnerabilities and inequalities. This project aims to co-develop interventions and low-cost options for remodelling formally- and informally built spaces in culturally sensitive ways to reduce heat stress and improve well-being. The interdisciplinary research team will conduct temperature and humidity measurements, interviews, auto-photography and thermal modelling, and construct experimental buildings to explore how heat stress experienced in homes, workplaces and health facilities impacts on well-being, as well as how perceptions of well-being influence the infrastructural decisions of residents and policy makers. REFIT aims to improve the well-being of city dwellers in Ghana and provide new knowledge and insights about adaptations to extreme heat relevant across the Global South.

Research Team: Professor Katherine Gough, Loughborough University; Dr Ebenezer Amankwaa, University of Ghana; Professor Samuel Codjoe, University of Ghana; Dr Raymond Kasei, University for Development Studies; Dr Frederick Wireko Manu, Building and Road Research Institute, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (BRRI/CSIR); Professor Kevin Lomas, Loughborough University; Dr Ben Roberts, Loughborough University; Dr Eftychia Spentzou, Loughborough University; Professor Robert Wilby, Loughborough University