How Cities Defy the Heat: Cities tackle the summer heat with green space and spray

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Swiss cities come up with a number of ideas to make hot summer days more bearable. In the short term, mist clouds, potted trees and cooling in the well should provide relief, in the long term almost everyone wants to plant more trees and have fewer closed areas.

The cities of Zurich, Basel, Bern, Lucerne, Bellinzona and many other cities are striving for greening and opening up of rural areas. For example, the goal of Stadtgrün Winterthur is to plant 1,000 new trees.

Lugano also relies on bushes. Namely where it is not possible to plant trees due to lack of space, the city’s communications department writes at the request of the Keystone-SDA news agency.

Bern tests different tree species

Since 2020, the city of Bern has been testing different tree species from the Balkan region and other European areas on the Schützenmatte. The ten-year trial should clarify which trees are more resistant to hot summers and longer periods of drought.

The city council of St. Gallen also wants to allow extra trees on public squares or roof and vertical greening of public buildings and parks in neighborhoods or new water areas. However, further steps require “political decisions on direction”.

Rainwater management (“sponge city” concept) should also be promoted in many places. The construction of rain gardens and the “roughening” of surfaces and coverings is intended to reduce heat build-up in the soil.

Floors have already been unsealed in several places in Bern, including the Rosalia-Wenger-Platz in Wankdorf, which was only built in 2017. In front of the SBB headquarters, 900 square meters of asphalt were broken up and replaced by a layer of marl.

Lighter instead of darker asphalt

In a pilot project on Blattenmoosstrasse in Lucerne, light-coloured asphalt has been applied, which heats up less and stores less heat at night than conventional dark asphalt. And the city of Aarau positions new buildings so that cold air currents are not blocked.

As immediate measures for short-term cooling, Basel wants to place potted trees, stretch shade sails over treeless shopping streets and install misting systems. The measures are part of an urban climate concept that will be submitted to the Basel Grand Council for approval.

Also in Zurich, the mist cloud “Alto Zürrus” has been in use for two years on the concrete-lined turbine site. The experiment will be evaluated in 2024. A version with even more water is available in Schaffhausen. Between June 26 and 30, the city lures visitors with the offer of baths in the city’s approximately 100 fountains. Primary school students are addressed in the first place.

Cold air corridors from the forest

The Aargau city of Baden has also come up with something unusual. The forest office has constructed cold air corridors in the forest above the Kappelerhof district. As part of the usual use of wood, forest trees have been targeted so that cool air can flow better from the forest to neighboring settlements after hot summer days, the city announced. This should also improve the nighttime sleeping climate of the pensioners who live in the Kehl retirement home on the edge of the forest.

Sensors measure the temperature for two years and are intended to visualize the changes before and after the hood. The population is invited to feel the nightly cooling forest air on a cold air sofa.

Urban climate initiatives under consideration

Urban climate initiatives are being discussed in several Swiss cities. In Zurich and Winterthur these require more greenery and cycle paths instead of roads. Both city councilors spoke out in favor of counter-proposals.

Two urban climate initiatives from the Umverkehr association will also be discussed in Basel before the summer holidays. The initiatives advocate the transformation of street space into greenery and space for non-motorized traffic. Specifically at issue are two more or less far-reaching draft counter-proposals from the Pre-Advisory Committee on the Environment, Transport and Energy. (SDA)

Source:Blick