Europe’s Urban Dilemma: Saving the Past From a Warming Future | Trees can naturally cool Europe’s increasingly hot cities; but a standoff in Vienna shows that they’re not always welcome
Europe’s Urban Dilemma: Saving the Past From a Warming Future | Trees can naturally cool Europe’s increasingly hot cities; but a standoff in Vienna shows that they’re not always welcome
> Every tourist in Vienna is at some point directed to Michaelerplatz, a circular cobblestone plaza in the heart of the Austrian capital. Framed by a medieval church, baroque buildings and the modernist Looshaus, the site’s iconic architecture attracts hundreds of thousands of people a year.
> Yet in the summer months, when the square’s pavement and lack of shade transforms it into a heat island, visiting isn’t always a pleasant experience. That’s why the City of Vienna moved to expand the area’s pedestrian zones and plant beds of grass and nine saplings before the end of 2024.
> Which, in turn, triggered an uproar.
> Furious architectural experts – including the country’s highest body in matters of monuments – warned that the renovation could jeopardize the historic center’s status as a world cultural heritage site. In a letter to the mayor that has since been signed by more than 400 experts, the writers contended that trees would block the square’s protected buildings and impede key sightlines. Signatories called on the city to cancel the plans, which had already been revised.
> “The proposal to green Michaelerplatz is completely misguided, because such a redesign would destroy the identity of one of Europe’s most memorable squares,” wrote Ákos Moravánszky, Professor Emeritus of Architectural Theory at ETH Zurich. “I also doubt that it would contribute significantly to the climatic redevelopment of the city center.”
> The controversy underscores a mounting challenge facing the world’s fastest-warming continent. As temperatures reach new heights, European cities must strike a balance between adapting to climate change and preserving sites of historical importance.
> Planting vegetation is an appealing way forward, as tree canopies can reduce air temperatures by up to 5ºC. Yet some conservationists are wary. UNESCO warned that Vienna’s plan, if not carefully executed, could have a “deleterious impact” on the capital’s cultural significance. The city center’s status as a world heritage site is already at risk because of plans to build a high-rise in the vicinity.
!ping EUROPE&YIMBY&ECO
WAGRAMWAGRAM on
I like the woodeing of city centers because:
-It makes history pedants mad for something that’s 1/10% as bad as the concrete that’s already there.
-Gaining some degrees of cold is still a win
-Trees are cool and pretty
But, I’m in France and such a solution, and others “soft solutions” are often used by degrowth anti-tech public intellectuals in order to argue against AC, heat pumps and so on.
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> Every tourist in Vienna is at some point directed to Michaelerplatz, a circular cobblestone plaza in the heart of the Austrian capital. Framed by a medieval church, baroque buildings and the modernist Looshaus, the site’s iconic architecture attracts hundreds of thousands of people a year.
> Yet in the summer months, when the square’s pavement and lack of shade transforms it into a heat island, visiting isn’t always a pleasant experience. That’s why the City of Vienna moved to expand the area’s pedestrian zones and plant beds of grass and nine saplings before the end of 2024.
> Which, in turn, triggered an uproar.
> Furious architectural experts – including the country’s highest body in matters of monuments – warned that the renovation could jeopardize the historic center’s status as a world cultural heritage site. In a letter to the mayor that has since been signed by more than 400 experts, the writers contended that trees would block the square’s protected buildings and impede key sightlines. Signatories called on the city to cancel the plans, which had already been revised.
> “The proposal to green Michaelerplatz is completely misguided, because such a redesign would destroy the identity of one of Europe’s most memorable squares,” wrote Ákos Moravánszky, Professor Emeritus of Architectural Theory at ETH Zurich. “I also doubt that it would contribute significantly to the climatic redevelopment of the city center.”
> The controversy underscores a mounting challenge facing the world’s fastest-warming continent. As temperatures reach new heights, European cities must strike a balance between adapting to climate change and preserving sites of historical importance.
> Planting vegetation is an appealing way forward, as tree canopies can reduce air temperatures by up to 5ºC. Yet some conservationists are wary. UNESCO warned that Vienna’s plan, if not carefully executed, could have a “deleterious impact” on the capital’s cultural significance. The city center’s status as a world heritage site is already at risk because of plans to build a high-rise in the vicinity.
!ping EUROPE&YIMBY&ECO
I like the woodeing of city centers because:
-It makes history pedants mad for something that’s 1/10% as bad as the concrete that’s already there.
-Gaining some degrees of cold is still a win
-Trees are cool and pretty
But, I’m in France and such a solution, and others “soft solutions” are often used by degrowth anti-tech public intellectuals in order to argue against AC, heat pumps and so on.