Health justice and economic segregation in climate risks: Tracing vulnerability and readiness progress.

Climate vulnerability can make urban space unhealthy and accentuate existing health (in)justice and (economic) segregation. Drawing on the vulnerability-readiness nexus and measuring health justice (i.e., health poverty, health distribution, and health access) and economic segregation (through indices), we strive to investigate the plausible pathways of the two constructs at the heat risks. Our work, focusing on metropolitan cities in South Korea, addresses the role of heat vulnerability and readiness nexus regarding health justice and economic segregation through correlational analysis and a time-trend comparative approach between 2011 and 2015 (as five year-long effects). Our results show that potential positive links exist between health poverty as a component of health justice and economic segregation. Moreover, climate readiness, as opposed to vulnerability, plays a crucial role in reducing economic segregation in the context of health justice and heat risks.