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Heat check: Ulm in midfield, Neu-Ulm gets a red card!
Neu-Ulm receives a red card in the DUH heat check. The reason is high levels of sealing and few green spaces in the city.
Heat check: Ulm in midfield, Neu-Ulm gets a red card!
When summer takes hold of all of Bavaria, the cities face the challenge of dealing with the rising temperatures. In a recent study, German Environmental Aid (DUH) analyzed the heat susceptibility of 190 cities in Germany and published sobering results. As the SWP reported, the situation in Baden-Württemberg is particularly critical because many cities are suffering from extreme heat, with Ulm landing in the middle and Neu-Ulm even being punished with a red card.
Ulm received a yellow card for its heat index of 15.59, while Neu-Ulm performed significantly worse with a value of 16.22. This is concerning because the heat index is based on surface temperature, surface sealing and green volume. Perhaps the most alarming finding, however, is Mannheim's top spot with a heat index of 18.61, which puts the city at the bottom of the list nationwide. Over 88 percent of the 315,000 residents live in heavily polluted areas where the surfaces reach over 38 degrees in summer.
Concrete against nature
The causes of this heat-stricken urban environment are obvious. An excess of concrete and a lack of green space contribute significantly to overheating. In cities like Mannheim, 56 percent of the area is sealed, with only 2 percent covered by trees or plants, as shown in the analysis German environmental aid can be seen. This leads to alarming heat development, which is further exacerbated by climate change. These “heat islands” can reach a temperature difference of up to 10°C compared to rural areas.
Particularly fatal are the loss of large trees and the increase in asphalt surfaces, which impair the evaporation of water. Experts are therefore calling for the federal government to set binding targets to curb surface sealing by 2035. Cities should also get creative with more green roofs and fresh air corridors to improve air circulation and reduce temperatures.
A look into the future
The analysis not only highlights the problems, but also the potential for mitigating the urban heat effects. As the engineer highlights, targeted measures such as greening facades or creating bicycle and pedestrian zones could help create a cooler environment. Cities like Detmold, Ratingen and Potsdam are positive examples because, in contrast to heavily sealed cities like Ludwigshafen or Regensburg, they have sufficient green space.
The challenge is clear: Cities must plan intelligently and in an environmentally conscious manner in order to defy the record temperatures caused by climate change. If measures are not taken soon, hot spells could pose serious health risks for many city residents, especially for the vulnerable population consisting of the elderly, children and those with underlying health conditions.
It remains to be hoped that both politics and society will show a good knack for finding solutions and can work together to create a cooler and therefore more livable city.