Shucheng Wang

There are economic incentives as well as environmental health incentives associated with reducing the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect. Many studies have looked at the UHI relationship with physical characteristics of areas, but not many have looked at its relationship to socioeconomic characteristics. This study analyzed the links between temperature, marginalization, and the built environment over time. Multiple linear regression models were used to determine the difference between predicted temperature and actual temperature in the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) at 3 timepoints over a 20-year span. Results showed that socioeconomic characteristics were not as consistent in predicting temperature as the physical ones. The regression models were able to able to predict temperature much more accurately in Toronto proper compared to the surrounding suburban areas.