Due to concrete surfaces, dense construction, little greenery and rising temperatures in cities, summer is often unbearably hot. While cities around the world implement measures to ensure the flow of fresh air from the surroundings, in Belgrade everything is subordinated to the amount of square footage - and the temperature is rising
Cities get particularly hot in the summer. Concrete and asphalt absorb and retain the sun's heat, so the nights are extremely warm. So-called "tropical nights" with temperatures above 20 degrees disturb sound sleep. In Serbia these days, especially in the cities, the night temperature is approximately 30 degrees Celsius.
If the term "tropical night" is used for nights when the temperature does not fall below 20 degrees Celsius, it can be said that the whole of Belgrade is affected by this phenomenon during the summer. Last year, tropical nights were recorded in October, not only in Belgrade, but also in Novi Sad, Kikinda, Loznica, Valjevo, Zrenjanin, Novi Sad.
There are variations in the average temperature between certain central parts of Belgrade, but they all range from 40 to 50 tropical nights. Exceptions are large park and forest areas and parts of settlements in their immediate vicinity, as well as river courses.
The area bounded by the streets Dušanov, George Washington and Bulevar Despota Stefana up to the Pancevacki bridge make up the warmest zone of the city center. The areas with the highest number of tropical nights are also along the highway near Autokomanda, followed by Zemun, Vračar, Voždovac and Ledine.
How to cool cities? Are the so-called cold air corridors helpful?
What are cold air corridors?
In the vicinity of the cities, the nights are much fresher. Even on the hottest days, it is up to 15 degrees at night. Cities could cool somewhat if that air could flow into them.
Cold air corridors are green areas, rivers, lakes, railways and very wide streets with greenery. Cold air flows only a few centimeters above the ground, so embankments and buildings prevent that flow. That is why, when shaping cities, care should be taken to keep such corridors free, he writes Deutsche says.
Why are the nights fresher in the non-urban environment?
Quite simply, there is no concrete and asphalt there, but earth, sand and meadows prevail. There, the sun's heat is not absorbed in such a way that it stays until late at night. In addition, fresh air is created by the evaporation of water above the leaves, and in suburban areas there is usually a lot of greenery. That is why the air in them cools down faster after sunset. It is especially fresh in meadows and orchards, as well as above clay, sandy and peaty soil.
How does fresh air get to the city?
Topography is also very important. Cold air is heavier than warm air and collects near the ground, say in meadows. If the meadow is on a slope or on a hill, then cold air flows strongly downwards. This is how the cooling wind is created.
Cities that are in valleys, on slopes or on hillsides can profit from that cool air. Through the corridor, cold air can reach all the way to the center, displacing the warm air, which rises, and the fresh air cools the streets and buildings.
For example, Stuttgart lies in a valley and wants to maintain a local ventilation system based on its cold air corridors. Urban plans and construction are aligned with that goal.
What can cities do?
All over the world, more and more attention is being paid to the possibility of cooling cities with the inflow of fresh air from the surroundings. In Germany, in the meantime, numerous cities and regions have carried out appropriate climate analyses. They have done the same around the world, in cities such as New Delhi, Lima, Lagos, Seoul, Melbourne and Portland.
Meteorologists first measure temperatures and air currents in various places in the city and its surroundings, enter the data into special computer programs and thus create detailed climate atlases of cities. Based on these atlases, cities can decide not to rebuild the corridors through which fresh air flows, to improve them and to protect and strengthen the natural cooling of the environment.
In addition, cities can introduce a number of measures for significant cooling, reducing the number of tropical nights and improving the quality of life. These measures include the removal of areas sealed with concrete and asphalt, planting trees along the streets, fewer fossil fuel engines, greening of roofs and facades, more parks and water bodies, brighter facades and buildings, increasing areas under shade.
Instead of cold air corridors – heat islands
Corridors of cold air are in direct conflict with unplanned and excessive construction - because of this, Serbia still does not take into account the existence of this way of cooling cities. Instead of having corridors of cold air that would allow citizens a healthier sleep, Belgrade can be "raised" by a bunch of heat islands.
The heat island phenomenon implies the existence of urban areas that have higher temperatures compared to rural or natural environments. Such is the case, for example, with parts of New Belgrade, but also with the Danube and Sava coasts.
"The heat island effect occurs as a result of a large concentration of construction and thus artificial materials such as concrete, asphalt, steel, glass." All these materials have the characteristic of absorbing heat and then gradually releasing it into the atmosphere, thus increasing the air temperature in the city. It is these materials that dominate in Belgrade on the water, and there is also a striking lack of green areas with a natural substrate," architect Ivan Simić told "Vreme" and added that natural factors are also important for the appearance of a heat island.
"In addition to all this, some unfavorable geographical factors in the area of the Sava amphitheater contribute to the retention of the warm air mass, which tends to 'anchor' in this area." Overbuilding and 'concreting' supplemented these natural factors and created a negative synergy that only intensified the heat island effect".
Heat islands and air pollution
It was no accident that the expression "where there is misfortune, there is trouble". The heat island is a problem in itself, and it becomes even bigger when we find that this effect contributes to air pollution. By the way, Belgrade cannot boast of a sphere that it regularly dominates the lists of the world's cities with the most polluted air during the winter months.
"The heat island effect is known to contribute to more air pollution because it reduces the temperature differences between day and night." The consequence of this is the weakening of wind flow and greater retention of heat and pollution," said Simić and added that trends in the planning and construction of newly built areas of Belgrade show the absence of any principles and logic of bioclimatic planning and design.
"Dominant and local wind factors, as well as terrain and greening factors, are not taken into account. This has a negative effect on ventilation, and thus on the cooling and dispersion of pollution. "The buildings appear to be randomly 'scattered' on the plots, as if it is some kind of warehouse for buildings, where the only criterion is to achieve as many residential and business square meters as possible," concluded the interlocutor of "Vremena".
A small percentage of green areas
According to data from the European Environmental Agency (EEA), Belgrade ranks 28th out of 37 analyzed capital cities in Europe in terms of the share of green areas. Cities of similar size generally rank from 10th to 20th: Stockholm at 11th, Warsaw at 12th, Sofia at 14th, and Prague at 20th.
This picture should change drastically. Namely, the adopted General Regulation Plan of the System of Green Areas foresees an increase in the share of total green areas in Belgrade from 12 percent to over 22 percent, i.e. by over 8.000 hectares, and public green areas from 2,83 percent to over 6 percent.
The application of measures would reduce the heat and the accompanying negative effects of warming. However, although the Plan for the General Regulation of the System of Green Areas was adopted in 2019, it is still just that - a plan. At the same time, there are fewer and fewer green areas.
Source: DW/N1
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