Rick Dimino

With legendary stories of digging out from the Blizzard of ’78 and the “snowmaggeddon” of 2015, Boston is considered a place more familiar with snow plows and frigid cold, rather than extreme heat and dangerously high temperatures. Although heat may feel like a relatively new climate risk for New England, we know that extreme heat is already posing an urgent and increasing threat to our communities, critical infrastructure and regional economy. This is a challenge that Boston must address through an approach that combines public sector planning and private sector partnerships to help implement community heat resilience solutions. 

Extreme heat is the number-one killer among all weather-related climate hazards in the United States, surpassing hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding and cold weather combined. From Pakistan’s record-breaking temperatures to the Pacific Northwest’s melting infrastructure during heatwaves, recent years have seen stark reminders of the urgent need to address extreme heat. Boston itself experienced its hottest June ever recorded in 2021.  

The systemic impacts of extreme heat – including power failures, strained transportation systems, worsening community health and quality of life, reduced air and water quality, increased pressure on healthcare systems, loss of labor productivity and the degradation of tree canopy and green spaces – also jeopardize our regional economy and competitiveness. 

Where Heat Hits Hardest 

Moreover, the urban heat island effect exacerbates the vulnerability of environmental justice neighborhoods with limited green spaces, making places like Chinatown, Dorchester, East Boston, Mattapan and Roxbury even hotter and more vulnerable during heatwaves.  

Although all of Boston qualifies as a heat island, these hotspots with the larger urban heat island, characterized by concrete, steel and too few trees, can experience temperatures up to 10 to 15 degrees Fahrenheit higher than other neighborhoods in Boston.  

We must address heat as both a climate and racial justice issue, since we know that legacies of disinvestment our communities of color from racist policies like redlining have contributed to the location of Boston’s hotspot heat island neighborhoods today.  

There are steps the city and state can and must take to offset extreme heat, both to help address crisis response efforts to provide heat relief during declared heat emergencies this summer, and to support the design and development of cooler neighborhoods longer-term. While the city of Boston is off to a great start with its 2022 Heat Plan, which provides citywide and neighborhood-specific interventions for heat resilience, the public sector cannot act alone; the private sector must partner in community heat resilience solutions. 

A Role for the Business Community 

As Boston and the commonwealth develop heat resilience strategies, they must engage the business community and private sector in supporting community heat resilience initiatives. Public-private partnerships, in collaboration with the city of Boston, environmental justice communities and community-based organizations, can play a vital role in implementing effective solutions.  

With healthcare organizations exploring social determinants of health impacting patient heat vulnerability, to academic institutions supporting community-led temperature mapping and resilience planning in Chelsea and East Boston, to cultural institutions supporting citizen science and community heat resilience solutions, we know that our members in the business community are already stepping up. More can and must be done. 

A Better City’s 130 member organizations are united in finding solutions to this growing challenge. Working alongside the city of Boston, the Boston Green Ribbon Commission and community-based partners, A Better City is exploring opportunities to leverage member organizations for implementing heat solutions.  

In addition to publishing a heat primer on how to engage the business community in heat resilience, we are also identifying case studies of organizations and institutions supporting community heat resilience solutions. Through an extreme heat working group, we are exploring policy principles, pilot projects and public-private partnership opportunities for heat resilience in Greater Boston. These include bridging gaps in heat-related healthcare data, deploying heat mitigation interventions on privately owned land, implementing heat resilience plans in workplace settings and deploying heat safety communications in advance of summer heat emergencies.  

Looking ahead, it is essential for all municipalities in Greater Boston and leadership in state government to collaborate on coordinated and aligned heat emergency response and preparedness in the short-term, as well as intentional planning for cooler neighborhoods, commutes and downtowns in the long-term. Through targeted and intentional heat investments, our neighborhoods could see countless community co-benefits, making Boston a more equitable, more resilient, and a truly globally competitive city. 

By prioritizing community-based heat resilience to protect our communities, critical infrastructure, and regional economy, we can create a cooler, safer, and more vibrant Boston for all to enjoy and maintain our reputation for solving big problems facing our future prosperity. 

Rick Dimino is CEO emeritus of A Better City.