In the summer we already had heat, water shortage and drowning alarms on buses/trams/metro. The heat came early this year, and we’d better get used to it, because global warming doesn’t bode well in summer either. In cities, we also suffer doubly with logs, because 30-35 degrees can resemble 40-45 due to heat radiation from cars, tall buildings and concrete sidewalks.
Mayor Girgili Karaaxone a few weeks ago In a post on Facebook Show with thermal camera images how important green areas in a big city are in making a heat wave bearable. According to the photos he shared, the car parked in the hot sun is 46 degrees warmer than the tree line in the shade.
But how can we make urban summers bearable, what solutions do city engineers and urban professionals think of when it comes to mitigating the heat wave?
It’s easy to answer why cities are hotter than rural settlements: many cars pour gas into a smaller area, heat is confined between large homes, many paved roofs radiate heat, and fewer green spaces cannot evaporate. What would be the solution?
Should everyone move to the countryside?
Árpád Szabó DLA, Associate Professor in the Department of Urban Studies at the Budapest University of Technology, does not believe in moving to the countryside, as this would only enhance mechanization, while the individual’s infrastructure development needs would increase disproportionately, which could lead to more problems. (See water shortage in agglomeration). So what’s the best way to reduce heat in hot, crowded cities?
The primary tool is to reduce the amount of paved surfaces and at the same time increase the green roofs, which also act as moisture evaporators. Green roofs (whether traditional green roofs or green roofs) play a major role in retaining water.
He adds that the problem with cars is not only that they require a lot of paved surfaces for driving and parking, but that in addition to emissions, they also produce heat locally, which also contributes to the thermal effect of urban areas. The collective opinion of urban planners is that one of the most important things to avoid is the heat island effect, confirmed by Dr. Giorgi Alfoldi, University Professor in the Department of Urbanism.
The essence of this is that the warming is not uniform within the city, due to the high percentage of paved surfaces and the lack of air movement, air can get stuck at one point or another, and can reach 4-10 degrees more than anywhere else. Increasing the surface of the water can be an important step to prevent this, and according to Voldi, rainfall must be well managed and rainwater retained.
By separating the common sewage system and collecting and directing rainwater separately, cities will be able to get additional irrigation water, increasing the evaporation capacity of green areas.
Both experts agree that we can take advantage of the proximity of the Danube, because water is the most effective way to reduce the sensation of heat, and they welcome car-free sidewalks, as a greener, greener strip of public space along the Danube can contribute significantly to improving the quality of life for residents city, even on hot days, he says. Arpad Szabo.
Put it in Vienna, you trash!
They highlight the example of Vienna, which has very similar qualities to Budapest in terms of size and scale, and yet is a more livable city. why?
There are more and more green spaces, traffic development, and a conscious awareness that everyone has a role to play in creating a better environment.
Arpad Szabo also mentions Masdar, an artificial city located next to Abu Dhabi, on the edge of the desert, with a research center and a university, where passive devices are used mainly – for example, for shading, to facilitate the movement of air .
According to Szabó, it will be especially important to reduce the feeling of heat in downtown Pest, mainly by enhancing air movement, but there are no fixed systems for this, so experiments and research are needed. In the apartment buildings of Gangos Pest, one can think of solutions similar to Persian architecture styles, where ventilation towers extract cool air from the basement and use it to cool the building. A similar solution was already used to cool Parliament in 1912, says Giorgi Alvoldi.
The old ways of a new heat wave
The Associate Professor in the Department of Urbanism does not believe in high-tech solutions, old or already proven methods may work better, for example, it is important to examine typical wind direction, which also depends on climatic conditions – which can easily ventilate a hot city.
Alfoldi participated in the “Green Yard Program” in the eighth district, in which residents dug up the patios of the condominiums and planted them. Thus, they created more favorable conditions for living and climate. He also emphasizes the importance of modernizing heating:
It would be good if several types of heating could be used in inner cities, electric heating supported by solar energy systems or heat exchange systems – which can also cool in the summer heat – or instead of single gas heating that is currently prevalent, the area heating would be effective And beneficial from an environmental point of view.
It will be important to renovate the old apartment buildings, with the replacement of windows and thermal insulation, we can do a lot to make residents who live in crowded places feel more comfortable, as not everyone can have a rooftop garden, a steam door or even an air conditioner.
(Cover image: Tram tracks cool in the heat with sprinklers in Augbest on June 19, 2021. Photo: Zoltán Máthé/MTI)
