Suzanne's Mom's Blog

Photo: Emily Piper-Vallillo/WBUR.
Program mentor Meshell Whyte with students who participated in the 2023 UMass Boston Summer Program in Urban Planning.

Today’s story is not only about addressing troubling effects of climate change in cities but also about encouraging young people in the communities most affected to be part of finding solutions.

Emily Piper-Vallillo reports at WBUR, “Boston students recently wrapped up a month-long study of extreme heat in Roxbury, exploring ways to mitigate the crisis and its impact on residents through the field of urban planning.

“Nearly 30 high school students participated in the University of Massachusetts Boston Summer Program in Urban Planning, which concluded [in July] with a presentation at Roxbury Community College. …

“The program introduces students of color from environmental justice communities like Roxbury and Dorchester to careers in urban planning and design. It’s part of a larger effort to diversify the field of urban planning, which remains overwhelmingly white.

“ ‘Only 5.2% of Boston’s planners are non-white, in a city where just in the city alone, 28% of our population is African American,’ said Ken Reardon, co-founder of the program and chair of UMass Boston’s Department of Urban Planning and Community Development. …

“Built as a working class community at a time when extreme heat was not as common as it is today, Roxbury has densely packed buildings with few trees, according to the students’ presentation. Many spaces are exposed to direct sun. Slides and swings in neighborhood playgrounds were constructed with heat-absorbing materials, making them unusable when temperatures rise.

“In fact, the students found that air temperatures in Roxbury are, on average, 10 degrees warmer than at Boston’s Logan Airport.

“They made this discovery by collecting 135 temperature readings across 38 Roxbury locations to identify the hottest spaces. Readings ranged from 83 to 102 degrees Fahrenheit, with the highest temperatures collected on sidewalks and at bus stops.

“Collecting data was grueling, said Blue Hills Regional Technical student Aidan Luciano. He and his peers hit the streets with remote sensors recording the humidity and heat index during the month of July — when temperatures sometimes rose above 100 degrees.

“ ‘[But] it’s going to pay off in the end because we are going to be helping other people,’ Luciano said. ,,,

“One group designed a new cooling children’s playground on RCC’s campus. Scheduled to open in 2025, the playground will replace a parking lot near the historic Dudley House site. After further community input, the final design will incorporate many ideas from the students themselves, said Ruben Flores, special projects manager at Roxbury Community College.

“Flores was particularly impressed by the inclusion of splash pads and water misters to reduce the temperature of the playground.

“Participating students received college credit from UMass Boston and were paid around $15 an hour.

“Paying students was an important part of making this opportunity accessible to low-income students of color who are less likely to be able to afford unpaid internships, Reardon said.

“Beyond collecting temperature data, students sought to understand how Roxbury residents experience extreme heat, said TechBoston student Neicka Mathias.

“Over the course of July, students interviewed nearly 100 Roxbury residents about coping with rising temperatures. The most common suggestion for improvement they heard was to increase the number of water sources throughout the neighborhood.

“Students also worked with residents to identify public spaces in Roxbury where heat mitigation solutions are most needed. These include areas where  people frequently wait for public transit or line up outside favorite local restaurants. …

“ ‘Give a chance to these communities of color that are outside the spaces where decisions have been made and they will show you great work,’ Flores said.”

More at WBUR, here. No firewall.