https://reasonstobecheerful.world/barcelona-climate-shelters/
"In El Raval, the historic district in the heart of Barcelona, the sprawling
19th-century building that’s now home to the Centre of Contemporary Culture of
Barcelona (CCCB) began its life as Casa de la Caritat, a house of charity
providing shelter to the most vulnerable members of society. Now, the CCCB is
once again a place of refuge for those in need, as part of Barcelona’s growing
climate shelter network.
The network began with 70 locations in 2020 and expanded to 368 last summer, as
temperatures in Barcelona reached 40° Celsius (104° Fahrenheit), making July
2024 the hottest month since the city started keeping records 110 years ago.
While temperatures are rising globally, cities can be as much as 15° Celsius
hotter than surrounding rural areas. This is referred to as the urban heat
island effect, which is caused in large part by our built environment —
materials like concrete and cement absorb and retain heat, while tall buildings
trap it near the surface and block ventilation.
Heat doesn’t affect everyone equally — climate vulnerabilities are influenced
by an individual’s level of exposure, level of sensitivity and capacity for
adaptation. Children, the elderly, people with pre-existing conditions and
low-income communities are particularly at risk of heat-related illnesses.
“These are not static things that you’re born with, they are very political and
depend on historical, material, socioeconomic circumstances,” says Ana Terra
Amorim-Maia, researcher at the Basque Center for Climate Change in Bilbao. She
sees climate shelters as a relatively simple urban solution that can tackle all
three factors at once: “They can be real lifesavers because they can be placed
in areas that are more exposed to extreme heat or cold. They can be targeted at
populations that are more sensitive to climate change, and help people cope
with climate hazards.”
In Barcelona, climate shelters are integrated into the city’s existing public
infrastructure, expanding the services of civic centers, libraries, museums,
parks and gardens. This begs the question: Why bother setting up a climate
shelter network at all, when these spaces are already open to the public? “It’s
important because sometimes people don’t feel like they can go there just to be
comfortable,” says Mar Campanero i Sala from the City Council’s Office for
Climate Change and Sustainability. “They feel they have to find an excuse, and
it’s not necessary.”
Establishing an official network also means shelters, which are marked with a
symbol and listed in an interactive map on the city’s website, have to fulfill
minimum requirements: Besides keeping a maximum temperature of 26° Celsius (79°
Fahrenheit), they are free of charge, accessible for people with disabilities,
offer comfortable seating and free drinking water.
This is a crucial part of creating an effective network of climate shelters,
says Amorim-Maia: “What I see around the world is cities calling any of their
public spaces a climate shelter without doing modifications,” she says. “You
have funicular stations that barely have room to stand, they don’t offer any
water, they don’t have anything. But they have a sticker saying that they’re a
climate shelter.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
