Even when parked, cars are making cities like Atlanta hotter
As if surface-parking spaces weren’t problematic enough for cities, just on the level of the deadness they bring to their surroundings, new research finds that parked cars contribute to urban heat islands — exposing pedestrians to even higher levels of heat stress though the “radiative properties” of the materials cars are made of.
Parking lots at Lenox Mall. Photo: Darin Givens
The effect is most intense in areas where there’s a lot of asphalt all around by way of urban density, and where heat is already intense. In other words: the effect is worse in cities, so this is where concerns should be really focused.
The authors make this note about electric vehicles: “It is also important to note that while electric vehicles (EVs), increasingly common in urban fleets, emit less waste heat their physical presence and surface materials remain the same as conventional combustion-engine cars.”
You can read the full report here: The underestimated impact of parked cars in urban warming, City and Environment Interactions | August 2025
And as we know from a previous analysis, the effects of urban heat are not distributed evenly. They tend to be felt more heavily in historically redlined neighborhoods, where owners of homes are statically more likely to be Black.
Danger levels to health from heat in Atlanta, via CDC.gov
The above image comes from the CDC; it’s an interactive map of where people are most likely to feel the impacts of heat in Atlanta, based on the Heat Health Index. The south and southwestern sections of the city — where many historically Black neighborhoods are located — are in the “High top percent” designation for heat impacts.
Despite Atlanta’s cooling canopy of trees, the city averages 11 more 90-degree, or hotter, days in the summer, compared to the old 30-year average. This is part of a warming trend in cities across the U.S.
There are a lot of factors involved in heat risks for urban residents and there are many mitigation strategies to consider. Reducing the damage from parked cars seems like a worthwhile initiative, and if we can pair that effort with an overall reduction in car dependency, the benefits could be enormous.
