Budapest - Week 4 Compulsory Exercise
FC-02x Livable Future Cities (1st Run) - Compulsory Exercise 2
Uploaded on 2015-10-21 by BlankaBorbely
The temperature differences between urban and rural areas in the US seem significant. I have chosen five cities to list here of the cities I have looked at. - Washington D.C.: It is no. 6 on the chart of having the biggest temperature difference between the city and its surrounding rural area. It is up to 21° hotter in the city than in nearby rural areas. On average, city summers are 4.7° hotter than in rural areas. This causes serious health impacts, such as heath stress during heat waves, and high ground-level ozone levels. - Las Vegas: It is no. 1 on the chart of having the biggest temperature difference between the city and its surrounding rural area. It is up to 24° hotter in the city than in nearby rural areas, and on average, city summers are 7.3° hotter than in rural areas. - Seattle: It is no. 10 on the chart of having the biggest temperature difference between the city and its surrounding rural area. It is up to 17° hotter in the city than in nearby rural areas, and on average, city summers are 4.1° hotter than in rural areas. - Los Angeles: It is up to 27° hotter in the city than in nearby rural areas. On average, city summers are 2.4° hotter than in rural areas. - New York: It is up to 20° hotter in the city than in nearby rural areas. On average, city summers are 2.7° hotter than in rural areas. **2. Which are the main UHI effects you can identify in your area?** I live in a suburban area which has a lot of greenery. It is not quite a rural area, but it differs greatly from the city centre in its topography and its density of built-in areas and vegetation. I work in the city, therefore I experience the UHI effect personally almost every day. Temperatures are always higher in the city. This becomes most evident during winters (when snow melts a lot quicker in the city than in its surrounding areas) and summers, when temperatures sometimes reach extreme highs. Latter can endanger people (mainly the elderly and children), and make the city unpleasant. The quality of air is significantly better where I live, due to the high number of parks and forested areas. As part of the EU-Project, a study called “Contributions to Building Physics” was published in 2013, edited by A. Mahdavi and B. Martens from the Vienna University of Technology. You can access it here: http://eu-uhi.eu/download/thematic_documents/CESBP2013_SHORT.pdf. The paper presents the results of an EU-supported research project investigating the UHI effect in different Central European countries, including Budapest. The study is based on both short- and long-term data. In the case of Budapest, those are the reference week of 20-26.08.2011, and a longer period of 2000-2011. The analysis results demonstrate the existence and significant magnitude of the UHI effect in all participating cities. (http://eu-uhi.eu/download/thematic_documents/CESBP2013_SHORT.pdf, page 419) The following data are from this paper: ![Mean hourly urban temperature for a reference summer day][1] ![Long-term UHI intensity trend over a period of 30 years][2] Following are two pictures: the first one of the suburban area where I live, and the second one of a road in the city. As you can see, the first picture shows a lot of vegetation, while the second one is of a busy four-lane road in the city centre. Downtown areas in Budapest are a lot more flat than suburban areas. Energy uses and air pollution is a lot more higher in the centre. In the background of the second picture, you can see two identical buildings: one of which is cleaned of dust, and the other one which is not. ![suburban area][3] ![the city][4] **3. Which are the measures you would propose?** A more effective traffic system with more pedestrianised areas would help. There is a need for better cycling routes both in the city, and between the city and suburban areas. I think this would help reduce traffic as well. In my opinion, recycling is key: reusing materials already existent in the city would decrease the amounts of materials that need to be imported. Increasing evaporative surfaces (vegetation) would be extremely helpful. I would propose a higher number of green roofs, green walls and small pocket parks in the city centre. Urban gardening is becoming increasingly popular, and could become more common in Budapest as well. Many of the facades in the urban areas of Budapest are coloured grey and black by dust - these need cleaning in order to increase lighter coloured surfaces. They would then reflect, rather than absorb solar radiation. **4. Is UHI effect concerning policy making in your area?** According to met.hu (http://www.met.hu/en/omsz/palyazatok_projektek/uhi/), Budapest is listed as one of the 8 Central European cities part of the UHI Project. This project focuses on developing mitigation and risk prevention and management strategies concerning the UHI effect. It aims to encourage discussion among policy makers, local administrators and professionals. According to the website, “the project intends to: - Provide a deeper knowledge on the man-made risk of the UHI and its interactions with global climate change - Establish a permanent transnational network for monitoring the phenomenon and its development - Set up suitable strategies for the mitigation of- and the adaptation to UHI - Improve current land-use planning tools and civil management systems according to mitigation and adaptation strategies.” [1]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14454276257863081.png [2]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14454276564538677.png [3]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14454282475070929.jpg [4]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14454282642196077.jpg