Adapting to the heat: Cooling down in urban areas

2023 was the hottest year on record and April 2024 was ushered in with summer-like peaks throughout Central Europe – heat is becoming an ever-greater problem, especially in cities and densely populated areas. In the Climate Alliance project Ready4Heat, three cities from Austria, Slovenia and Hungary now show what measures they are taking to prepare for future heatwaves.

The cities of Hajdúböszörmény (HU), Maribor (SL) and Weiz (AT) are working in cooperation with Worms (DE), whose heat action plan is now two years old.  Building on its plan, Worms implemented specific support structures including health-related training courses on beating the heat and a heat hotline. In all four cities, the development of concrete measures was guided by the involvement of vulnerable groups as well as relevant urban stakeholders, following the principle that climate adaptation is a shared responsibility. Each city thus began by organising comprehensive stakeholder workshops with groups such as the chronically ill, the elderly, pregnant women, educators working with small children and those who primarily work in outdoor settings. One of the focal points of the workshops was to identify the needs of these target groups in terms of protecting themselves from extreme heat. Among other things, they called for more green and shaded areas, fewer concrete surfaces, heat-protected buildings, more water dispensers, adapted working hours on hot days and more information on the topic of heat-related health hazards. Pilot measures in Hajdúböszörmény, Maribor and Weiz were then developed on this basis.

Green city islands for Hajdúböszörmény
The Hungarian city of Hajdúböszörmény is home to around 30,000 people and is located in an agricultural area with no surrounding forests or large bodies of water. The summers are hot and dry, literally making the city a hotspot. In addition to well-established measures such as awareness-raising events and boosting energy efficiency, the city administration is currently focussing on the installation of green city islands in public areas as part of its pilot activities. The city islands are rectangular wooden containers (approx. 4 m²) filled with carefully selected herbaceous and woody plants. Pergolas provide additional shade and seating furniture allows people to cool off and relax. A total of 47 green islands are to be created by May at 23 locations, such as public squares, bus stops and leisure centres. “In order to measure the effects of the islands, we will be measuring the air temperature in the zone of influence of the shading green islands and outside during the summer period with digital thermometers. Municipal employees, volunteers and employees of the institutions hosting the green islands will support this endeavour,” says Teleki Maria from the city of Hajdúböszörmény. One of the biggest challenges will be constant maintenance and watering the green islands. “During the summer heatwaves, more irrigation is required until the green islands are well established. Volunteers and institutional staff will also support us here. However, the maintenance of the islands is also included in the municipality's open tenders,” concludes Teleki Maria.

Maribor works with nature-based solutions
Maribor is battling the heat island effect and is focussing on green and nature-based solutions in both its environmental protection programme and its local energy and climate concept. Specifically, this involves the use of trees and biodiverse green pergolas. These are to be installed in childcare facility playgrounds, for example, to shield children from the heat. A biodiverse pergola consists of just a few structural wooden elements and maximises the microclimatic effect. The plants are selected considering safety requirements for children, climatic effects and biodiversity.

Climate-friendly buildings in Weiz
The small town of Weiz (12.970 inhabitants) in the eastern foothills of the Alps is embarking on a sustainable solar-powered cooling solution to protect selected buildings from overheating. In order to test the feasibility of the idea, the solution is initially being trialled in a demonstration project (an assisted living facility for the elderly). The test run will be closely monitored in order to compare the effectiveness of the system with conventional cooling systems, such as ventilators or fans, passive cooling options, conventional mobile refrigerators, split cooling units or building greenery among others. “If our solution turns out to be feasible and beneficial, the cooling system could also be implemented in other institutions such as assisted living facilities in the social sector or in kindergartens and schools,” comments Dominik Puchner of the municipality of Weiz. For some time now, the city has been focussing on energy-related issues in order to raise public awareness of topics such as energy efficiency, sustainable energy sources and energy consumption. As a building authority, the city also directly influences renovation, new construction projects and protection from heat through climate action guidelines. The administration supports implementation with funds from the municipal eco-promotion programme, which promotes the widespread use of tried-and-tested heat and health measures.

Beating the heat is something that concerns us all and the examples of three European cities highlight effective, low-threshold solutions. Climate Alliance has already supported the City of Worms in the development of one of the first urban heat action plans in Germany and is now supporting Hajdúböszörmény, Maribor and Weiz, helping to disseminate solutions and best practice examples that boost the resiliency of our cities so that they are better equipped for future heat waves. As part of the Ready4Heat project, Climate Alliance also recently published a guide that shows cities and towns that are still in the early stages how to develop an action plan for heat and health.

Read more

• Ready4Heat Project
• Ready4Heat guideline: How to develop a heat and health action plan
• Feature „Worms (DE) focuses on participation, information campaigns and concrete support“ (June 2022)

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