Urban Water Bodies & Redlining in the Twin Cities: A Study of the Water Cooling Effect Across Neighborhoods

Authors

• Lucia Zuvela, Macalester CollegeFollow

Document Type

Honors Project On-Campus Access Only

Abstract

Urban heat exposure is unevenly distributed across U.S. cities, reflecting legacies of discriminatory housing policies. From the 1930s to 1960s, redlining maps graded neighborhoods from “A” (best) to “D” (hazardous), with “D” areas characterized by poorer environmental conditions and communities of color. Although banned in 1968, these patterns are argued to persist. While green infrastructure has been widely studied in this context, this thesis examines whether cooling from urban water bodies varies across historically graded neighborhoods in the Twin Cities, Minnesota. Using Landsat imagery and field measurements, results show stronger cooling in “A”-graded neighborhoods, highlighting enduring environmental inequalities.

Recommended Citation

Zuvela, Lucia, "Urban Water Bodies & Redlining in the Twin Cities: A Study of the Water Cooling Effect Across Neighborhoods" (2026). Environmental Studies Honors Projects. 25.
https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/envi_honors/25