Enhancing heatwave resilience in recreational public spaces: An operational tool from a Mediterranean Algerian urban context

Heatwaves are among the most pressing climate-related challenges for contemporary cities, threatening human health, social equity, and urban infrastructure. Recreational public spaces have significant potential to enhance heatwave resilience by providing thermal refuges, supporting urban greening, and enabling social and ecological functions. However, despite growing research on urban heat, these spaces remain underexplored from an operational resilience perspective, particularly due to a lack of operational indicators and reference values for concrete evaluation and targeted improvement. To address this gap, this study introduces HResRPS - Heat Resilient Recreational Public Spaces , an operational tool designed to evaluate and enhance heatwave resilience in these spaces. Developed within an Algerian Mediterranean context, using the city of Jijel as a revealing urban laboratory experiencing increasing heatwaves, the tool translates the cyclical nature of resilience by organizing it across three hierarchical levels: phases, attributes, and operational indicators. Deep learning-based semantic clustering supported the structuring of resilience attributes, while internal consensus and a multidisciplinary Delphi-AHP process reinforced the framework’s robustness. The final tool consists of three phases, eight attribute clusters, and 22 operational indicators supported by context-adapted reference values and a composite index. HResRPS enables the assessment of overall heatwave resilience in recreational public spaces, identifies specific strengths and weaknesses across phases and attributes, and guides targeted improvement actions according to specific indicators and relevant stakeholders. It also supports new urban design projects by serving as a checklist for integrating indicators into early design stages. Finally, it offers a practical approach to sustainable and heat-resilient urban development.