Flemish Interior Minister Bart Sommers (Open VLD) allocates €350,000 in Flemish subsidies to Mechelen’s flagship “Cool Streets” project, which aims to reduce the impact of heat waves on cities – the heat island phenomenon – through several interventions.
The “heating tool” should indicate which streets are most affected by the problem, after which infrastructure interventions will follow.
Heat waves often hit hardest in cities, where they can be up to 8 degrees warmer than in the countryside. Moreover, due to climate change, they are becoming more common, with increasingly warmer temperatures.
“We want to do something about that by developing a fine-grained thermal instrument,” Minister Summers says. At Paardenkerkhofstraat we are installing 20 new measuring points for the first case study and we are responsible for renovating 10,000 square meters with heat-resistant procedures. Just think of a cool yard with a natural canopy, green walkways, and water space. This is how we make great ashes. We then perform a pre- and post-measurement to measure the effect.
The information emerging from this first project will be used for heat resistance measures elsewhere as well. The data and insights gained by the City of Mechelen are shared via an open data platform so that other local authorities can also use it.
The Heat Tool should indicate which streets are most affected by the problem, after which infrastructure interventions will follow. Heat waves often hit hardest in cities, where they can be up to 8 degrees warmer than rural areas. Moreover, due to climate change, they are becoming more common, with increasingly warmer temperatures. “We want to do something about that by developing a fine-grained thermal instrument,” Minister Summers says. At Paardenkerkhofstraat we are installing 20 new measuring points for the first case study and we are responsible for renovating 10,000 square meters with heat-resistant procedures. Just think of a cool yard with a natural canopy, green walkways, and water space. This is how we make great ashes. We then do a pre- and post-measurement to be able to measure the effect. ”The information emerging from this first project will be used for heat resistance measures elsewhere as well. The data and insights gained by the City of Mechelen are shared via an open data platform so that other local authorities can also use it.
