Pedestrians and cyclists will be able to avoid areas of extreme heat when moving around Bendigo with a mapping project locating the city’s literal hot spots.
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The pilot project will use a platform that integrates freely available, satellite-derived land surface temperatures to inform users of the location of urban hot spots.
The maps intend to provide cyclists and pedestrians with information on the best routes to take to avoid extreme temperatures.
They will be available on common mapping programs such as Google Maps and Apple Maps.
“This information will be particularly helpful for the elderly, people with disabilities, children walking to school and those who use motorised wheelchairs,” City of Greater Bendigo director strategy and growth Bernie O’Sullivan said.
The City of Greater Bendigo will pilot the web-based urban heat map with funding from the federal government’s Smart Cities and Suburbs program.
“This is an exciting project that will provide important information about how the City can further invest in greening and cooling our streets, and complements the objectives of our Greater Bendigo Public Space Plan and Urban Forest Strategy,” Mr O’Sullivan said.
“Urban heat can vary greatly and the more tree canopies there are, the greater opportunity residents have of commuting and enjoying our parks and open spaces in lower temperatures.”
The pilot will be co-ordinated by La Trobe and RMIT universities.
It will start in late 2017 and a final report on the trial is expected in June 2019.
