Addressing the urban heat island effect is critical in mitigating the threat of heat from the perspective of land use planning and design. This paper, therefore, presents a structured review of urban heat island mitigation policy that is contained in the local-level planning policy documents and regulation of 20 large municipalities throughout the United States and Canada. It explores how the issue of the urban heat island effect is framed and approached and, therewith, facilitates an understanding of how aware municipalities are of the issue and its impacts. The review identifies a total of 307 instances of mitigation policy measures among 19 of the 20 municipalities, with the most commonly applied: approaches to mitigation being the promotion of latent heat flux, albedo modification, and provision of shade cover; and, framing contexts being public health, air quality, energy, comfort, and climate change. Although the review indicates that there is widespread awareness of the issue, it notes that only 79, or 25.7 percent, of the 307 mitigation policy measures were framed in any context. Thus, the majority of policy measures do not communicate an understanding of the significance and potential impacts of the urban heat island effect or provide a lens through which it should be perceived and, therewith, addressed. Indeed, they call for blind action. This suggests a need to promote awareness of the potential impacts of the urban heat island effect and communicate same in local planning policy documents and regulations.
