Message :
Required fields In cities like Richmond, Virginia, temperatures can vary as much as 20 degrees across different parts of the city, with densely populated low income neighborhoods and communities of color often disproportionately affected. Structures such as buildings, roads and other infrastructure absorb and re-emit the sun s heat more than natural landscapes such as forests and water bodies, leaving urbanized areas - known as heat islands - to experience higher temperatures. Many of those areas exist in historically underserved neighborhoods that were created through a discriminatory lending practice known as redlining. In the 1930s, policies were enacted that reinforced racial segregation and diverted investment away from communities of color in ways that created disparities such as a lack of greenspace including parks and tree-lined streets in those neighborhoods.