When some residents of San Antonio’s Historic Westside neighborhood come home after a long workday, it’s not unusual for them to walk into a sweltering home that has been sitting all day unventilated and without air-conditioning. As a result, they endure dehydration, cramps, heat exhaustion and heatstroke.
Living in hot conditions is the norm for many of these residents, says Esteban López Ochoa, assistant professor in urban and regional planning in the Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design.
“Several of them say they have heat stroke once or twice during the summer,” López Ochoa says. “It is not fair nor efficient to have a large section of the population normalizing having heatstrokes in the summer due to extreme heat conditions in their own homes. And housing conditions is a greatly overlooked issue that needs to be prioritized.”
In 2023, 2,325 Americans died from heat, the most in 20 years, according to a study published in the American Medical Association Journal JAMA by Jeffery Howard, associate professor of public health from the College for Health, Community and Policy. Since 1999, more than 21,518 people have died.
The City of San Antonio (CoSA) reported 835 heat-related illnesses in 2023, which was the hottest summer on record, and 571 in 2024. To date in 2025, there have been 216 heat-related illnesses, with more expected to come as temperatures rise.
As it continues to get hotter, the city, in partnership with UT San Antonio researchers, is looking at ways to bring some relief to those most susceptible to extreme urban heat.
A group of UT San Antonio researchers led a study to determine which areas of San Antonio are most vulnerable to extreme heat.
Researchers from UT San Antonio are turning to AI models and digital twin technology to strengthen resiliency to urban heat in San Antonio’s Historic Westside community.
Researchers are partnering with the City of San Antonio to create innovative solutions to beat the heat.
Two research projects from UT San Antonio explore how effective cool pavement is for mitigating heat.
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