San Antonio develops Heat Resilience Playbook to combat extreme temperatures

Extreme heat management took center stage at the San Antonio City Council B Session on May 28, 2025, as officials unveiled the San Antonio Heat Resilience Playbook. This comprehensive strategy aims to equip the city with tools and resources to combat the rising temperatures that pose significant risks to residents, particularly the most vulnerable populations.

The playbook is designed to guide city leaders and communities in understanding and enhancing existing efforts to mitigate heat impacts. It has four main objectives: uplifting current city-led initiatives, advancing actions that have seen limited progress, integrating existing programs for greater impact, and developing new transformative initiatives. The city has partnered with Resilient Cities Catalyst, a nonprofit organization, to bolster these efforts, supported by an initial investment of $50,000 that has leveraged over $300,000 in additional philanthropic funding.

A key component of the playbook is a gap analysis that compares San Antonio's heat management strategies with best practices from other cities, including Tampa, Phoenix, and international examples like Paris and Athens. The findings reveal that San Antonio is ahead of many cities in implementing heat reduction strategies, actively advancing two-thirds of existing actions while introducing new initiatives.

Among the highlighted programs is the Cool Neighborhoods initiative, which targets the city's most heat-vulnerable areas. This program aims to reduce neighborhood temperatures through strategic interventions, such as increasing tree canopies and enhancing building energy efficiency. The city is also implementing a cool pavements program to reduce heat absorption on roadways.

As the city moves forward with these initiatives, officials emphasize the importance of collaboration across departments and community engagement to maximize the impact of their heat resilience efforts. The anticipated outcomes include improved quality of life for residents and a more sustainable urban environment as San Antonio prepares for the challenges posed by extreme heat.