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Stakeholder engagement and research · No. 22 · Research published April 2019
Bringing urban heat research into policy dialogue in Greater Kuala Lumpur
Professor Amir and Associate Professor Nasrin Aghamohammadi co-led a large stakeholder focus-group exercise on urban heat islands, supported by a multidisciplinary team.
- Role
- Co-lead of the stakeholder focus-group exercise
- Location
- Greater Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- Joint leadership
- Professor Amir Ghaffarianhoseini and Associate Professor Nasrin Aghamohammadi
- Participants
- Policy makers and practitioners in Greater Kuala Lumpur
- Method
- Qualitative Focus Group Discussions (FGD)
- Publication
- Habitat International 86 (2019), pp. 28–37
Connecting research with stakeholders
Together with Associate Professor Nasrin Aghamohammadi, Professor Amir Ghaffarianhoseini co-led a large focus-group exercise in Kuala Lumpur, with colleagues supporting the discussions and wider research. The work brought policy makers and practitioners into dialogue about urban heat islands (UHI) in Greater Kuala Lumpur.
Understanding awareness and knowledge
The qualitative Focus Group Discussions explored participants’ understanding of UHI, awareness of local conditions and organisational involvement in adaptation and mitigation. Findings revealed uneven awareness and gaps in knowledge among participants. Practitioners demonstrated a stronger factual understanding than policy makers in the study.
From discussion to urban policy
The findings highlighted the need for awareness raising and capacity building, particularly among policy makers, to support evidence-based urban policy. The study connects urban-climate research with the knowledge and institutional engagement needed to respond to overheating.
Published research
The work was published in Habitat International in April 2019. The article, A qualitative exploration on the awareness and knowledge of stakeholders towards Urban Heat Island phenomenon in Greater Kuala Lumpur: Critical insights for urban policy implications, was co-authored by Logaraj Ramakreshnan, Nasrin Aghamohammadi, Chng Saun Fong, Amirhosein Ghaffarianhoseini, Li Ping Wong, Rafidah Md Noor, Noor Rosly Hanif, Wan Nor Azriyati Wan Abd Aziz, Nik Meriam Sulaiman and Norhaslina Hassan.
