Houston’s biggest heat generators may not be its people or cars, but its empty spaces.
The city has roughly 10,000 acres of abandoned buildings and another 45,000 acres of paved, vacant lots — urban blight that’s quietly intensifying the city’s already brutal heat, Bisnow reported, citing Texas A&M University.
Those concrete-covered expanses can drive land surface temperatures up to 20 degrees hotter than vegetated areas, university researcher Dingding Ren found, using drone imagery and NASA satellite data.
The findings come as Houston endures rising average temperatures — part of the decade-long global trend of record heat — as well as one of the highest office vacancy rates in the country, at about 26 percent.
Abandoned buildings and vacant paved lots stay hotter longer because concrete absorbs and slowly releases heat, while vegetated land helps cool surrounding areas. Houston has taken steps to demolish unsafe and vacant properties, including a few Midtown buildings slated for teardown ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Other efforts focus on mitigation rather than demolition. The Resilient Houston plan calls for lighter-colored roofs, expanded tree canopy, and planting 4.6 million native trees by 2030. Trees For Houston, the nonprofit leading the charge, expects to plant about 800,000 this decade.
Developers are increasingly part of that effort, integrating shade trees and reflective materials into new projects.
“When everyone shares responsibility — the city, NGOs and developers — that’s when we really move the ball down the field,” Ward said.
Beyond comfort, the costs of a “heat island” are real. Hotter pavement and rooftops can deter tourism, strain energy systems, and reduce economic productivity.
“We set out to build a climate-controlled city,” Downtown Houston+ CEO Kristopher Larson said in his State of Downtown address last week. “Now, we’re learning to embrace our outdoor spaces again.”
That shift is visible at places like Discovery Green, which attracts more than 3 million visitors annually despite the heat. The city hopes to replicate that success by redesigning streets like McKinney and Preston to include more trees and shade, part of the Downtown Public Realm Action Plan.— Eric Weilbacher
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