Posts tagged with 'London'
Cool Roofs: An Underused Tool for Reducing Heat
Cool Roofs: An Underused Tool for Reducing Heat
Cities and towns in the Mediterranean and the Middle East have long used white or light-colored roofs and walls to help keep people cool. Today, cities from Ahmedabad to Singapore are also turning to cool roofs to reduce urban heat ...
How Is the World Coping With Extreme Heat?
How Is the World Coping With Extreme Heat?
From hydration breaks during the FIFA World Cup to recent heat waves leaving Europe sweltering in an early summer, extreme heat is reshaping daily life. Around the world, communities are adapting in real time to increasingly high temperatures. During Europe’s ...
Cities Absorb the World's Shocks. Who Protects Them?
Cities Absorb the World’s Shocks. Who Protects Them?
There is a pattern to how global crises unfold that receives far less attention than it deserves: A disruption originates somewhere in the architecture of global trade, energy or finance, travels through supply chains and shipping corridors, and eventually deposits ...
Protecting Tokyo’s Cyclists Is a Gender Equity Issue
Protecting Tokyo’s Cyclists Is a Gender Equity Issue
Despite a lack of dedicated bicycle infrastructure, Tokyo is among the world’s great cycling cities, with 14% of all trips made on two wheels. The city’s narrow roadways discourage through traffic and require slow speeds, creating an informal network of ...
Preparing Health Systems for Climate Risks Saves Lives — and Pays Off
Preparing Health Systems for Climate Risks Saves Lives — and Pays Off
Climate change is one of the greatest health threats we face. By 2050, it could claim nearly 16 million deaths across low- and middle-income countries. Extreme heat, the spread of climate-sensitive diseases like malaria and cholera, and disruptions to hospitals and other healthcare could ...
Data Centers in Land-Scarce Cities: Who Decides, Who Benefits and Who Pays?
Data Centers in Land-Scarce Cities: Who Decides, Who Benefits and Who Pays?
Cities have always been shaped by the infrastructure they choose to host. Railways defined the industrial city. Highways reorganized post-war suburbs. Metro systems and airports rewired the geography of globalized urban economies. Today, another form of infrastructure is expanding rapidly ...
Designing for Instinct: How Streets Shape Behavior
Designing for Instinct: How Streets Shape Behavior
People don’t just use streets; they respond to them. The placement of curbs, alignment of crossings and painted markings directly shape how safely and predictably people move. How people interpret the physical cues received from their environment determines their decisions and movements. ...
The Paris Agreement at 10: A Celebration and a Call to Action
The Paris Agreement at 10: A Celebration and a Call to Action
Ten years ago, we witnessed something akin to a miracle. Hundreds of leaders came together for the UN’s annual climate summit (COP21) in Paris. There, they forged what many thought impossible: a global agreement to curb climate change — one where virtually ...
Why COP30 Was a Breakthrough for Cities
Why COP30 Was a Breakthrough for Cities
Cities and states have aimed higher and moved faster on climate action than national governments. The reason is simple: To local leaders, climate problems and solutions matter because their constituencies are directly impacted by them. Extreme heat, flooding and air ...
Climate Action Has a Messaging Problem
Climate Action Has a Messaging Problem
In the summer of 2024, Dutch citizens ranked climate change as the most serious problem facing the world. Just a few months later, they elected a national government that ran on a platform of pulling back its climate policies. This isn’t just ...
Europe’s Soaring Heat and the Great Air Conditioning Dilemma
Europe’s Soaring Heat and the Great Air Conditioning Dilemma
Much of Europe sweltered in August 2025 as a heat dome spread across the continent, pushing peak afternoon temperatures to over 40 degrees C (104 degrees F) in France and Spain. Meanwhile, parts of Greece, Turkey and Albania battled historic and devastating ...
Istanbul Tackles Tourist Crowds and Climate Issues Together
Istanbul Tackles Tourist Crowds and Climate Issues Together
Istanbul’s Caferağa neighborhood has a longstanding reputation for its cultural richness and historic charm. Quaint cafes, restaurants and bars line the sidewalks. A thriving arts scene draws an eclectic crowd. More than 2.3 million visitors daily flock to the district ...
From Work to Transportation, Extreme Heat Is Reshaping Urban Life
From Work to Transportation, Extreme Heat Is Reshaping Urban Life
By midday in Mathare, a densely populated informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya, the sun beats down on the tight rows of wooden stalls and corrugated metal rooftops. At an elevation of 5,889 feet (1,795 meters), Nairobi has long been known ...
India’s Electric Bus Revolution Isn’t Just for Megacities
India’s Electric Bus Revolution Isn’t Just for Megacities
Imagine living in a country where everyone has access to clean, affordable public transportation to reach their jobs, schools and healthcare needs without relying on polluting fossil fuels. That vision isn’t too far from where India hopes to be by ...
Low-Emission Zones: A Blueprint for Delhi's Urban Transformation
Low-Emission Zones: A Blueprint for Delhi’s Urban Transformation
India’s urban centers are grappling with a severe air pollution crisis that poses a significant threat to public health and urban livability. Studies suggest that each year, Delhi records approximately 12,000 air pollution-related deaths, accounting for 11.5% of its total fatalities. Despite ...
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