Heatwave Damage Concentrated Among Vulnerable Groups: Seoul Institute Calls for Targeted Approach

An analysis suggests that as heatwave damage intensifies year by year, it is becoming increasingly concentrated among certain vulnerable groups, necessitating policies that provide selective support for these individuals.

In a recent report titled "Diagnosis of Heatwave Risks" published in the latest issue of "Global City Policy Trends," Cho Ga-young, a research fellow at the Sustainable Development Research Division of the Seoul Institute, analyzed that "heatwave damage does not affect all citizens equally." She added, "Indoor heat risk at the household level increases as factors such as residential environment, cooling conditions, energy cost burdens, and health status overlap."

The report pointed out the limitations of heatwave countermeasures currently implemented by local governments, such as planting street trees, securing wind paths, and installing automatic road sprinkler systems. While these measures contribute significantly to mitigating the heat island effect on a macro level, their primary beneficiaries are limited to pedestrians and the mobile population.

The explanation is that those more directly exposed to danger are individuals with limited mobility who spend most of their time at home, lack air conditioning, or cannot afford to operate cooling devices due to the burden of energy costs. Therefore, providing selective support for these individuals is crucial.

The report emphasized, "Heatwave-vulnerable households should not be equated with specific groups such as the elderly, women, or low-income earners," adding that "heatwave vulnerability is formed by the overlapping of residential environment, accessibility to cooling, energy cost burden, health status, mobility, and social isolation."

According to the report, major cities abroad are utilizing indicators and maps that analyze both regional heat risks and social vulnerability to respond to heatwaves.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) interprets heatwaves from the perspective of health risks through the Heat and Health Index, while New York City has established a Heat Vulnerability Index to identify areas with a high risk of heat-related deaths.

Japan uses the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT), which objectively represents heat stress by combining humidity and radiant heat rather than just temperature, as a standard for heatwave disaster prevention. Meanwhile, Paris, France, operates the "Reflex System," a database of vulnerable citizens, to respond to extreme heatwave risks.

Introducing these international cases, the report noted, "This means that the response to heatwaves is shifting from finding 'areas with high temperatures' to identifying 'areas and households where conditions that make it difficult to be protected from the heat overlap.'"

In South Korea, the Korea Meteorological Administration operates heatwave warning standards based on the "perceived temperature" as a key indicator, and the Ministry of Environment has introduced a heatwave vulnerability index to quantitatively assess heatwave vulnerability by region.

The report explained that aging houses, semi-basement units, rooftop rooms, top-floor apartments, and houses with high solar exposure fail to protect residents from heatwaves and, in fact, can become hotter than the outside. It emphasized that "indoor heat risk is an area that must be treated as a core component of heatwave response."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.