Heatwaves increasingly threaten urban populations, especially in semiarid regions experiencing rapid urban expansion. This study proposes a geospatial framework to assess physical heat vulnerability in Guelma, northeastern Algeria. The approach integrates satellite-derived land surface temperature (LST) as an indicator of exposure with urban and environmental sensitivity factors, weighted through the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process. Validation using land-use information confirms the model’s robustness and correlation with LST. The results show that densely built areas exhibit the highest vulnerability due to limited vegetation and extensive impervious surfaces, whereas forested zones remain low risk. This transferable framework provides a reproducible tool for identifying heat-prone areas and supporting evidence-based urban planning and climate resilience strategies in semiarid cities.
Debbache et al. (Mon,) studied this question.