Spatial planning for thermal comfort justice in an era of climate extremes: the case of Mardin, Türkiye

Peker, E. and Street, E. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8987-5916 (2025) Spatial planning for thermal comfort justice in an era of climate extremes: the case of Mardin, Türkiye. Habitat International, 166. 103600. ISSN 1873-5428 doi: 10.1016/j.habitatint.2025.103600

Abstract/Summary

To date, thermal comfort has been understood either as an individual (bodily) issue to be modified for those able to via consumption-side measures such as air conditioning, or as a technical question requiring adaptations pre- dominantly at the building scale. Contributing to literature at the interface of critical temperature, urban heat and climate justice studies and spatial planning, the paper frames thermal (dis)comfort as a critical urban gover- nance and social justice issue. The paper considers the potential of spatial planning systems to deliver more ther- mally-just built environments. Presenting an illustrative case study of the city of Mardin in south-eastern Türkiye, it explores the barriers to planning for thermally comfortable urban environments in the context of ex- treme heat. The results show that while the city's planning systems are procedurally robust, they fail to position thermal (dis)comfort as a socio-spatial justice issue requiring a scalar (e.g. city-level) response. Drawing on the case study, and the literature review, the paper presents a two-stage set of recommendations to embed thermal comfort justice within planning systems.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/id/eprint/124427
Identification Number/DOI	10.1016/j.habitatint.2025.103600
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Henley Business School > Real Estate and Planning
Publisher	Elsevier
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