Heatwaves are no longer rare anomalies in temperate cities; they are lived, negotiated, and unevenly endured. Yet behavioural adaptation—a vital first line of defence—remains underexplored. Drawing on a sequential mixed-methods design integrating in-depth interviews (N = 21) and a nationwide survey (N = 1,849) across Dutch urban density gradients, this study shows that behavioural adaptation is less a matter of individual choice than of social, structural, and spatial constraint. Homeowners leveraged their control over private spaces to adopt both active and passive technological adjustments, achieving higher adaptation scores. Tenants, constrained by housing tenure, disproportionately relied on cultural adjustments rooted in social ties and experiential knowledge. Residents of very highly urbanised areas reported higher indoor temperatures and demonstrated the lowest adaptation scores, revealing density-driven limits to coping capacity. Gender and household composition further influenced adaptive capacity, with women and multi-person households displaying consistently stronger responses. By centring behavioural adaptation, the study identifies key barriers and exposes the mechanisms through which adaptation inequality takes shape in temperate urban settings. ... Read more

Introduction
The first 1000 days of life, from conception to age 2, are crucial for a child’s development, with lasting health impacts. Evidence is growing that environmental and social factors, especially the neighbourhood of birth, play a significant role in shaping health during this period. This study investigates perinatal health disparities in 20 high-risk Dutch neighbourhoods identified by the governmental National Program on Livability and Safety and outlines an initiative to develop tools aimed at reducing geographical health inequalities and improving birth outcomes.

Methods
Using data from the national perinatal registry (Perined) from 2015 to 2021, we analysed perinatal outcomes in 1 118 022 mother–child pairs, including perinatal mortality (24 weeks gestation to 7 days postbirth), small for gestational age (SGA; birthweight <10th percentile, corrected for gestational age and sex) and preterm birth (<37 weeks). Three-step logistic regression compared outcomes across all high-risk areas versus the rest of the country, each high-risk area versus national levels and each area versus its municipality, adjusting for confounders and multiple testing.

Results
We observed that SGA (OR 1.19 (95% CI 1.16 to 1.21)), preterm birth (OR 1.09 (95% CI 1.06 to 1.12)) and perinatal mortality (OR 1.13 (95% CI 1.02 to 1.24)) were significantly higher within high-risk areas compared with the rest of the Netherlands. These disparities persisted across the various comparisons.

Conclusion
Living in high-risk neighbourhoods, as defined by livability and safety parameters, is linked to adverse birth outcomes, underscoring the need for targeted, location-based policies. Our collaborative initiative aims to co-develop a knowledge agenda with key stakeholders to create actionable tools that reduce health inequalities from birth. ... Read more

Urban heatwaves pose significant challenges to public health and well-being. Quantitative approaches focusing on heat hazards dominate the literature, while qualitative studies, particularly in temperate climates, remain underrepresented. Drawing upon the case of Rotterdam, a highly socially and spatially diverse city with a temperate climate, this research investigates residents’ everyday lived experiences during heat events and their underlying coping mechanisms. Employing a hybrid thematic analysis based on 21 semi-structured in-depth interviews, the research discusses residents’ behavioural adaptation, encompassing personal, technological, and cultural adjustments, along with their associated spatial dependencies. Findings indicate that adaptation practices occur across various spatial scales, with personal and technological adjustments primarily reliant on the house unit, while cultural adjustments extend to neighbourhood scales and beyond. Notably, control over the
household unit emerges as a significant factor in shaping spatial dependence, highlighting an often-overlooked aspect of inequality. The study offers a conceptual framework for exploring residents’ behavioural adaptation to extreme heat, facilitating the formulation of equitable and tailored planning strategies for temperate climates. ... Read more

The first 1,000 days of life are a vital period for growth and development, with lasting effects on health and well-being. There is growing recognition of the importance of environmental and societal exposures, like the neighborhood a child is born into. This supports a ‘Health in All Policies’ approach, acknowledging that health is shaped by decisions beyond the healthcare sector. This study explores inequalities in perinatal health across high-risk neighborhoods in the Netherlands, as identified by the Dutch National Program on Safety and Livability (NLPV), focusing on the neighborhoods’ classification rather than their health outcomes. We used nationwide data from Perined (2015-2021) to compare perinatal outcomes among residents of 20 designated NLPV focus areas to other regions (n = 1,118,022 births). Outcomes included perinatal mortality (death from 24 weeks gestation to 7 days after birth), small for gestational age (birthweight <10th percentile), and preterm birth (before 37 weeks). A three-step logistic regression approach was applied: (1) comparing all focus areas combined to the rest of the country, (2) each focus area to the rest of the Netherlands, and (3) each to its municipality. Perinatal mortality (OR 1.13, 95% CI: 1.02-1.24), small for gestational age (OR 1.19, 95% CI: 1.16-1.21), and preterm birth (OR 1.09, 95% CI: 1.06-1.12) were all significantly more prevalent in designated focus areas compared to the rest of the Netherlands. Similar patterns were observed when comparing each designated focus area to other areas as well as to its corresponding municipality. Living in a high-risk neighborhood - defined by safety and livability - is associated with adverse birth outcomes. These findings highlight the need for place-based policy actions to reduce health disparities from the earliest stages of life. Future research will investigate whether local interventions in these specific neighborhoods contribute to improvements in perinatal health outcomes. ... Read more

As heatwaves in cities intensify, understanding how urban residents adapt to extreme heat is critical. Yet, climate literature predominantly focuses on exposure-centric, spatial approaches, while bottom-up, people-first perspectives remain underrepresented. This study employs a sequential mixed-method approach to investigate behavioural adaptation practices among urban dwellers in the Netherlands.

In the first phase of the study, semi-structured, in-depth interviews (n=21) identified key themes that informed a Likert-scale survey instrument employed in the second phase to test a set of hypotheses. Subsequently, in phase two, a nationwide survey (n=1,849) across three urban typologies—Extremely Urban, Strongly Urban, and Moderately Urban—captured perceptions and behavioural practices related to heatwave adaptation.

Findings indicate that residents in highly dense, extremely urban areas have a lower behavioural adaptation score compared to the other two urban types. Additionally, ownership emerges as a key factor in the adaptation process; where homeowners prioritize technological adjustments, renters rely more on personal and cultural adjustments. In terms of risk perception, statistically significant differences exist between adults living alone and those living with a partner or family.

The tested hypotheses provide a nuanced understanding of specific vulnerability to heatwaves in the Netherlands, offering insights that can inform targeted urban design and planning strategies at the local level. ... Read more

Heatwaves in urbanized areas, even in temperate regions like the Netherlands, are getting serious attention. The Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute predicts more frequent and intense heat events in the future. Studies have explored how Dutch cities contribute to heatwaves and suggested design and planning responses to mitigate their effects. However, a review of heatwave research in the Netherlands specifically focusing on the built environment has hardly been reported in the literature. This study aims to provide such a review utilizing the vulnerability framework. Following the PRISMA protocol, 57 articles are analysed based on the components of exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity within the vulnerability framework. Subsequently, findings have been classified into five built environment scales - block, neighbourhood, district, city, and region - to critically reflect upon the extent to which the studies address various vulnerability components and the specific scales they primarily focus on. Results demonstrate that most of the studies concentrate on the hazard itself and its spatial distribution from a macro perspective on a city and regional scale. The review underlines the necessity of micro-level research on the phenomena, incorporating people's everyday experiences and resilience during heat events to find context-specific adaptation and mitigation strategies. ... Read more

Dhaka is the densest and one of the most rapidly urbanizing megacities in the world. Like other developing contexts, the city is struggling with a massive population which creates huge traffic congestion on roads. Addressing this issue, the first ever mass rapid transit project MRT-Line 6 has been initiated that is expected to be completed by 2021. Besides, the government holds a plan of making Transit Oriented Development (TOD) surrounding the future 16 station areas. TOD is a popular and recognized planning and design tool to achieve a dense, mix-used, walkable living neighborhood around a station. Although apparently, the strategy of executing TOD looks appropriate and promising, pedestrianization, a core element of TOD, has been heavily overlooked in the current planning process. Particularly, in an unplanned, almost developed city with only 600km of sidewalk, ensuring pedestrianization will not only be difficult but also the utmost challenging. Moreover, obstructions and encroachment by vendors and others make this situation more complex. Therefore, it was essential to critically consider pedestrianization in the mainstream planning process for making TOD sustainable in the context of Dhaka. This paper will attempt to identify the constraints of promoting pedestrianization around a future station area. Doing so, the study has been carried out on Motijheel, the central business district of Dhaka, which is considered one of the most challenging station areas. Within this area of investigation, with a physical survey, the existing scenario of pedestrian space and its adjacent road conditions are explored. Following that, a Geographic Information System (GIS) based analysis has been conducted to measure the level of obstructions within the 500 meter radius of Motijheel. Finally, based on the findings, the paper will also provide an overview of how dissimilar the pedestrian characteristics are compared to the developed countries that implemented TOD. ... Read more

Khulna is the third largest thriving city of Bangladesh and surrounded by picturesque countryside, winding rivers, and a host of development centers. Since partition of British India in 1947, the city has been growing up as an important complex of trade, commerce and industries. This paper aims to relate the historical transformation of the morphology of the concern city by analyzing the spatial expansion. History reveals that the city arose as a market town on the bank of river Bhairab. At the very beginning of the paper, the Integration core has been tried to identify by analyzing the Master Plan of 1961. After identifying the initial urban core, the Master plan of 1993 & 2009 has been analyzed respectively by using Space Syntax, tool that simulates the likely social effects of urban designs, which has been done with axial analysis. It has been observed that the main Integration Core was initiated by the side of the river bank area as the river transports were the main catalysts for the City. Then with the time it shifted to the Dak-Bangla more/node, and now it has been found that the main vibrant nodal point is the Shib-Bari node. ... Read more