Biophilic urbanism for Healthy Cities: a GIS-based spatial assessment of occupational heat vulnerability among outdoor workers in Dubai, UAE

Extreme heat poses growing health risks to outdoor workers in rapidly urbanising arid cities. Although green infrastructure and nature-based solutions are increasingly promoted, spatial evidence identifying priority locations for equitable interventions remains limited. This study develops a Heat Exposure Vulnerability Index (HEVI) for Dubai’s 47 planning districts, integrating Land Surface Temperature (LST), vegetation deficit derived from the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), and outdoor worker density through Geographic Information Systems (GIS), remote sensing and spatial hotspot analysis. Summer 2023 provides the empirical baseline rather than representing current conditions. Results identify five statistically significant clusters of extreme heat vulnerability, primarily within industrial and construction districts accommodating approximately 68% of Dubai’s outdoor workforce. Vegetation deficits are particularly pronounced in these areas. As vegetation deficit contributes directly to HEVI, this association is not interpreted as independent evidence of causality; spatial clustering is assessed using Getis–Ord Gi* analysis of the composite index. The findings establish a spatial decision-support framework for prioritising nature-based cooling interventions where occupational exposure and environmental disadvantage coincide. Although developed for Dubai, the approach offers transferable methodological insights for other rapidly urbanising hot-climate cities facing intersecting challenges of extreme heat, limited vegetation and occupational vulnerability.