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https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1134174
EXCERPTS: More than four in five homes and workplaces across 25 European cities have less nearby tree canopy than what is needed for meaningful cooling, according to an open-data analysis by an urban greening expert. Dr Thami Croeser from RMIT University in Australia has mapped tree canopy within 60 metres of 5.5 million buildings across France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Greece and the UK.
His analysis found 84% of buildings fall below the 30% nearby canopy threshold identified in urban heat literature as important for reducing dangerous urban heat island effects. Croeser, from the RMIT Centre for Urban Research, said Europe's heatwaves are exposing a structural problem in the way cities have been designed.
"More than four in five homes and workplaces in the cities we analysed do not have the nearby tree canopy that urban heat research indicates is needed for meaningful cooling," he said. "When severe heat hits, a leafy park three blocks away is too far away to help an apartment building surrounded by baking asphalt."
Cologne and Hamburg performed best, with about 45% of buildings above the 30% threshold. Nice followed at 41%, largely due to hillside vegetation. After that, the picture deteriorates rapidly.
At the other end of the ranking, Sevilla, a city that regularly faces extreme summer heat, had 98% of buildings below the threshold. [...] Croeser said density is not the problem.
“When we compared neighbourhoods with similar dwelling densities, the areas with mature trees were up to 10 degrees cooler than nearby hotspots,” he said. “We found dense urban areas with apartments, shops, offices and activity centres that stayed much cooler because they had proper shade. The difference is whether trees were protected, planted and given enough space and water to grow.”
Croeser said cities needed to focus on three priorities: planting trees close to where people live and work, giving trees enough soil and water to thrive, and protecting mature canopy. “The trees cooling cities today were planted decades ago,” he said... (MORE - missing details, no ads)
PAPER: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-70723-6
EXCERPTS: More than four in five homes and workplaces across 25 European cities have less nearby tree canopy than what is needed for meaningful cooling, according to an open-data analysis by an urban greening expert. Dr Thami Croeser from RMIT University in Australia has mapped tree canopy within 60 metres of 5.5 million buildings across France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Greece and the UK.
His analysis found 84% of buildings fall below the 30% nearby canopy threshold identified in urban heat literature as important for reducing dangerous urban heat island effects. Croeser, from the RMIT Centre for Urban Research, said Europe's heatwaves are exposing a structural problem in the way cities have been designed.
"More than four in five homes and workplaces in the cities we analysed do not have the nearby tree canopy that urban heat research indicates is needed for meaningful cooling," he said. "When severe heat hits, a leafy park three blocks away is too far away to help an apartment building surrounded by baking asphalt."
Cologne and Hamburg performed best, with about 45% of buildings above the 30% threshold. Nice followed at 41%, largely due to hillside vegetation. After that, the picture deteriorates rapidly.
At the other end of the ranking, Sevilla, a city that regularly faces extreme summer heat, had 98% of buildings below the threshold. [...] Croeser said density is not the problem.
“When we compared neighbourhoods with similar dwelling densities, the areas with mature trees were up to 10 degrees cooler than nearby hotspots,” he said. “We found dense urban areas with apartments, shops, offices and activity centres that stayed much cooler because they had proper shade. The difference is whether trees were protected, planted and given enough space and water to grow.”
Croeser said cities needed to focus on three priorities: planting trees close to where people live and work, giving trees enough soil and water to thrive, and protecting mature canopy. “The trees cooling cities today were planted decades ago,” he said... (MORE - missing details, no ads)
PAPER: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-70723-6