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Shade is an essential solution for hotter cities

One of the most effective ways to keep people cool is often neglected in urban planning. Cities must work to provide cover and reverse the ‘shade deserts’ common in low-income communities.
By
  1. V. Kelly Turner

    1. V. Kelly Turner is an associate professor of urban planning and geography in the Urban Planning Department, University of California, Los Angeles, USA.

  2. Ariane Middel

    1. Ariane Middel is an associate professor in the School of Arts, Media, and Engineering and in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, Arizona State University, Tempe, USA.

  3. Jennifer K. Vanos

    1. Jennifer K. Vanos is an associate professor in the School of Sustainability, Arizona State University, USA.

Rear-view of pedestrians standing in the shade as they wait to cross a street

People in Hong Kong, China, seek shade as they wait to cross a street in summer. Credit: Hou Yu/China News Service/VCG via Getty

In May this year, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation unveiled four unusual metal bus shelters. Small and quick to install, the shelters were supposed to be a simple way to provide lighting and shade for waiting passengers — only one-quarter of bus stops in the California city have shelters. Los Angeles currently experiences about 11 extreme heat days each year — a number projected to at least triple by mid-century — and needs ways to protect people from heat outside. But the shelters, a pierced metal panel with a short overhang, were quickly attacked for costing US$10,000 each and providing only a tiny patch of shade, enough for one or two people.

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Nature 619, 694-697 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-02311-3

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Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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