About 526,000 people, 16% of Barcelona’s metropolitan population, live in areas classified as having very high vulnerability to climate change, according to an Institut Metròpoli assessment. For residents in these neighbourhoods, the finding identifies where rising extreme temperatures and heatwaves are expected to pose the greatest combined social and environmental risk.

The study, Heat in the future: Climate Change Vulnerability Index (IVAC), was produced in 2022 by Institut Metròpoli’s Urban Sustainability team for the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB), the public authority coordinating 36 municipalities. It maps vulnerability at census-section level, allowing conditions to be examined in small local areas.

High-vulnerability areas cluster in dense municipalities

According to Institut Metròpoli, the highest-vulnerability areas are concentrated mainly in densely populated municipalities, including Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Sant Adrià de Besòs, L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Badalona and Cornellà de Llobregat, as well as parts of Barcelona.

  • In Barcelona, the report identifies Nou Barris, Ciutat Vella and Sants-Montjuïc among the districts with the highest vulnerability indices.
  • Along the Besòs axis, it highlights Llefià, Sant Crist de Can Cabanyes, Sant Roc and La Salut in Badalona; Fondo in Santa Coloma de Gramenet; and La Mina in Sant Adrià de Besòs.
  • Along the Llobregat axis, it identifies areas of L’Hospitalet de Llobregat including La Torrassa, Pubilla Casas, La Florida, Les Planes, Collblanc and Bellvitge.

Index combines present conditions with projected heat

The IVAC is the first climate-change vulnerability index mapped for the Barcelona metropolitan area, according to Institut Metròpoli. It identifies territories and social groups most vulnerable to climate change by considering current conditions alongside projected rises in extreme temperatures and heatwaves.

A higher IVAC score means an area is more vulnerable to climate change. Residents can consult the official study page for the methodology and the index’s metropolitan mapping work.

Primary sources: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Reported by Source Text Link, institutmetropoli.cat, Vijendra Ingole, Marc Marí-Dell’Olmo, Anna Deluca, Marcos Quijal, Carme Borrell, Maica Rodríguez-Sanz, Hicham Achebak, Dirk Lauwaet, Joan Gilabert, Peninah Murage, Shakoor Hajat, Xavier Basagaña and Joan Ballester, ground.news, urban-initiative.eu, mdpi.com, catalannews.com, Gemma Garrido Granger, Albert Diumenjó Segalà, frontiersin.org, Albert Diumenjó Segalà, link.springer.com, meetingorganizer.copernicus.org, Gemma, El Periódico Barcelona.