Multiple vulnerabilities. Adaptation strategies of people experiencing multiple vulnerabilities to heat in Vienna

Summer temperatures will continue to rise in the next decades in all European cities and urban heat will become one of the top priorities with its manifold impacts on different social groups. In the context of climate change, urban design and planning processes, it is therefore crucial to consider individual adaptability and changes in living conditions due to urban heat stress. This paper focuses on the concept of heat-vulnerability and the question of how different people experiencing multiple vulnerabilities perceive, and adapt to heat stress. In our case study in Vienna in 2023, we conducted qualitative interviews and focus groups with heat-vulnerable people. After identifying eleven different factors of heat-vulnerability, the theoretical concept of multiple vulnerabilities provided insights into the intra- and interpersonal overlap of vulnerabilities on different dimensions: individual context, temporal characteristics, social and interpersonal factors, living and working conditions, and spatial factors. For most of the people involved in our sample, more than one factor was evident. Those multiple vulnerabilities demonstrate that factors can be seen both as a starting point of vulnerability and as an outcome of urban heat stress itself. Furthermore, the paper examines coping strategies of people experiencing multiple vulnerabilities, such as adjusting daily routines, utilizing nature-based solutions (NbS), and navigating infrastructural challenges. The study highlights the importance of the social construction of vulnerability, by urging that recognizing multiple vulnerabilities can enhance equity-focused responses to urban heat stress.