Passive-cooling urban design plus formal heat governance

Location

Ahmedabad, India23.0225, 72.5714

Description

After a 2010 heatwave killed 1,344 people, Ahmedabad built South Asia's first Heat Action Plan (2013) — a governance-led response combining color-coded early-warning red alerts pushed to residents, hospital "heat wards" and trained medical staff, public outreach, and a Cool Roofs Program. Reflective coatings went on 100+ government buildings and slum homes (cutting indoor temperatures up to 5°C), with low-cost alternatives using coconut husk and recycled paper for those who could not afford coatings. The plan is revised annually using the prior year's mortality and temperature data. It is credited with saving ~1,100 lives per year (one study estimated 2,380 deaths avoided post-HAP) and has been replicated across 100+ Indian cities and 23 states via the National Disaster Management Authority.

Metrics

5

2010 heatwave deaths that triggered the plan1,344deaths

Estimated lives saved per year~1,100lives/year

Deaths avoided (post-HAP study)2,380deaths

Indoor temperature cut from cool roofsup to −5°C

Indian cities replicating the HAP model100+cities

Funding

Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation with NRDC and academic/public-health partners

Lessons learned

Framing heat as a named, color-coded public-health emergency — not just an infrastructure project — is what drove the mortality reduction.
Targeting free or low-cost cool roofs at slum housing made the plan equitable rather than protecting only those who could afford air conditioning.
Annual revision using the previous year's mortality and temperature data kept the plan effective and is central to why it replicated nationwide.

Sources

3

Documented Jun 9, 2026

Arnaud Gissinger