Ancient Civilizations Used These Simple Measures to Cool Cities Down -- Why Can't We Do the Same?

People have recognized the power of cities to heat themselves up and cool themselves for centuries.

by Brian Stone Jr. and The Conversation
7 hours

As intense heat breaks records around the world, a little-reported fact offers some hope for cooling down cities: Under even the most intense periods of extreme heat, some city blocks never experience heat wave temperatures.

How is this possible?

Civilizations have recognized the power of cities to heat themselves up and cool themselves for centuries. City architects in ancient Rome called for narrowing streets to lessen late afternoon temperatures. Narrow streets were found to cool the air by limiting the area exposed to direct sunlight.

The whitewashed architecture of the Greek Isles demonstrates another long-practiced strategy. Light-colored walls and roofs can help cool cities by reflecting incoming sunlight.

In hot and humid regions of the southern US, Thomas Jefferson proposed another approach to cooling: Have all new settlements employ a checkerboard pattern of heavily vegetated city blocks interspersed among dense construction. That could promote cooling through convective air movement between cool and warm zones.

More:
https://www.inverse.com/science/ancient-civilizations-used-these-simple-measures-to-cool-cities-down-why-cant-we-do-the-same