Mapping Urban Vulnerability: Why Heat, Green Space, and Inequality Collide

Yellow Bulbul

18-09-2025

At sunset, when the slanting rays of the setting sun heads westward in that same bird village, the sound has taken on a different tone, as though it is also saying goodbye to the passing day.
Kingfisher takes note of such a miraculous occurrence. He marvels at the beauty of nature and the purity of bird vocalization, pitying those who have failed to recognize this.

In “Conductor”; Wild Wise Weird [1]

© Wix

Climate change is not only about rising global temperatures—it is also about where and how those risks are felt most acutely [2]. A recent study by Lee and Han [3] shows that urban vulnerability is shaped by the intersection of three forces: heat stress, ecological insulation, and economic capacity. By analyzing 250 districts in South Korea, the researchers provide a spatially grounded framework for understanding how climate hazards and social inequalities overlap.

Using satellite data, administrative records, and statistical models, the study developed composite indices for heat exposure, vegetation cover, and economic disadvantage. These indicators were combined through clustering analysis to identify four distinct vulnerability profiles across the country.

The findings reveal stark patterns. Metropolitan cores, such as Seoul, experience the highest levels of heat stress and vegetation scarcity but are buffered somewhat by stronger economic resources. By contrast, rural and peripheral districts often have better ecological conditions but far less financial capacity to adapt. Some mixed-type areas face intermediate risks, while only a minority of districts enjoy both low environmental stress and strong economic resilience. The results highlight how vulnerability is not only a function of climate exposure but also of structural inequalities embedded in land use, infrastructure, and wealth distribution.

These insights have significant policy implications. Current adaptation strategies often focus narrowly on physical exposure, but Lee and Han argue that structural vulnerability must be seen as socially embedded—produced by planning decisions, economic stratification, and uneven access to green infrastructure. For example, urban greening projects are frequently concentrated in wealthier districts, leaving marginalized communities more exposed to extreme heat [4,5].

Trees, parks, and other ecological buffers are not luxuries but essential, life-saving infrastructure deeply tied to social equity [6]. Protecting vulnerable communities from heat stress cannot be separated from safeguarding ecosystems and addressing inequality. A society with a higher Nature Quotient (NQ) will weave green equity and social justice into the very fabric of climate adaptation. As the planet warms, urban resilience will depend less on isolated technical fixes and more on cultivating high-NQ communities that recognize nature as a partner in survival [7]. Every tree planted and every policy that closes social gaps is more than environmental adaptation—it is an act of human protection.

References

[1] Vuong QH. (2024). Wild Wise Weird. https://books.google.com/books?id=N10jEQAAQBAJ

[2] Harlan SL, Ruddell DM. (2011). Climate change and health in cities: impacts of heat and air pollution and potential co-benefits from mitigation and adaptation. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 3, 126-134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2011.01.001

[3] Lee Y, Han S. (2025). The geography of structural vulnerability: intersections of climate exposure, ecological insulation, and economic capacity. npj Urban Sustainability, 5, 71. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42949-025-00264-2

[4] Han S. (2022). Spatial stratification and socio-spatial inequalities: the case of Seoul and Busan in South Korea. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 9, 23. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-022-01035-5

[5] O’Neill MS, Zanobetti A, Schwartz J. (2014). Disparities by race in heat-related mortality in four US cities: the role of air conditioning prevalence. Journal of Urban Health, 82, 191-197 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1093/jurban/jti043

[6] Nguyen MH. (2024). How can satirical fables offer us a vision for sustainability? Visions for Sustainability, 23(11267), 323-328. https://doi.org/10.13135/2384-8677/11267 

[7] Vuong QH, Nguyen MH. (2025). On Nature Quotient. Pacific Conservation Biology, 31, PC25028. https://doi.org/10.1071/PC25028