Our research investigates the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect in Singapore. The combination of climate change and local urbanisation is already a problem and is set to become worse, impacting on social, economic, and cultural life. Unlike scientific studies that focus on models and projections however, our team believe that the myriad challenges posed by urban heat cannot be addressed adequately from within the confines of a single disciplinary tradition. Lead by historians, but involving climate scientists, geographers and sociologists, our preliminary research will set the basis for a larger interdisciplinary project to examine the problem of heat in Asian cities past, present, and future.

Our research has three central themes. Firstly, Taking the City’s Temperature investigates the record of historic temperatures. This integrates quantitative data derived from instrumental temperature records available in archives with qualitative data from historic sources. Our eventual aim is to extend the timeline further into the past than any previous project. Secondly, Living with Heat explores how Asian city dwellers have coped with the quotidian discomforts of life in a hot environment, examining how heat exposure intersects with poverty and vulnerability in dwellings and workplaces. Thirdly, Disastrous Heat examines what happens when temperatures reach hazardous levels. Heatwave disasters are already causing widespread public health and economic problems annually in Asia and will get worse over the next few decades. We are uncovering a record of historic events to determine disaster trends and explore whether policymakers and relief agencies can look to historic solutions for future disaster risk reduction.

The project team has developed a website to share their research. To find out more, please visit https://nus.edu.sg/nuslibraries/dsprojects/heatinurbanasia/