In the present day, urban heat has become more and more important as a public health issue, especially for citizens with health conditions, including old or poor people, as well as children. The Edison Eastlake neighborhood in Central Phoenix needs changes to its infrastructure because of urban heat caused by the previous lack of investment as discrimination against its Latino residents. The author of the essay knows about this because their friend lives in that neighborhood. The Latino residents of the Edison Eastlake neighborhood are the most affected by the issue, and their input is required, as they themselves are in the best position to bring change due to their motivation. However, they need outside help, which has been received in the form of the United States Housing and Urban Development Choice Neighborhood grant (Guardaro et al., 2020). The Nature’s Cooling Systems project can help on the matter as well (Guardaro et al., 2020). A barrier between residents and officials had kept them from solving this problem earlier when the officials did not make sure that the residents attended their events. The residents, on the other hand, want change sooner than the bureaucratic machine functions because planning and funding take time.
As mentioned above, the Latino residents of the Edison Eastlake neighborhood should participate in the reduction of urban heat in their neighborhood, including planting trees which there is a lack of. Other measures include providing access to drinking water, cooling opportunities, and information programs. Officials should provide the Edison Eastlake neighborhood with funds and consulting help because the residents need more information on how to reduce urban heat in their neighborhood. Thus, the heat action plan involves participation by decision-makers, funders, and other communities taking measures via the residents’ actions, social networks work, and implementation of new policies. Is there a possibility that residents can deal with urban heat on their own, with the only outside assistance being the grant?
Reference
Guardaro, M., Messerschmidt, M., Hondula, D. M., Grimm, N. B., & Redman, C. L. (2020). Building community heat action plans story by story: A three neighborhood case study. Cities, 107, 102886.