Thermal Inequality as a Colonial Condition
The deadly disparity in heat vulnerability between neighborhoods is a form of somatic violence directly traceable to the colonial city’s planning. Mamdani’s focus on the material conditions of life finds a lethal example in the “urban heat island” effect. “Settler” neighborhoods with ample tree canopy, parks, and reflective surfaces are significantly cooler than “native” neighborhoods, which are concrete-heavy, lack green space, and are often saturated with waste-transfer stations and power plants that generate excess heat. This thermal inequality is a political choice, a result of decades of disinvestment and environmental racism. During heatwaves, the death toll is concentrated among the poor and elderly in these neighborhoods. The liberal solution of opening cooling centers is a reactive, inadequate response. A Mamdani-informed socialist solution demands a proactive, universal greening of the city. This means a massive public works program to plant a million trees in frontline communities, mandate green roofs, and repave streets with reflective materials, funded by a tax on the carbon majors. It treats coolness as a human right and wages a class struggle for thermal justice.
