Eighty-Five Percent

Is there an urgent need to adapt cities to heatwaves? For more than 85% of Luxembourg's residents, the answer is yes. That is the finding of a study by the Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER), which surveyed more than 3,300 people as part of the TRANSITER research programme.[1]

The survey was carried out in the middle of winter. Well before the long heatwave at the end of June. "In people's minds at the time, the heatwave felt very, very far off", said researcher Frédéric Durand. And still, 85.2% of respondents said it was urgent to adapt cities to hotter conditions. Some of the remaining 15% explained they felt relatively protected living in rural areas, where there was not necessarily much to adapt in the first place.[1]

The fairness argument

Luxembourg residents justified the need to adapt by pointing to social and environmental fairness, and to a sense of vulnerability in the face of heatwaves. The fairness argument stems above all from uneven access to outdoor spaces where people can cool off. The researchers also knocked down a familiar stereotype: lower-income residents were more interested in and more supportive of the measures, not less.[1]

Four measures, all approved

Researchers put four urban development options to residents, ranging from easiest to most far-reaching:

• Installing shade sails over public spaces
• Putting misting systems and water fountains in public spaces
• Making light and reflective materials mandatory on roofs and facades
• Replacing some on-street parking with trees to create shade

All four measures cleared majority support. Air conditioning was explicitly excluded from the study. "Air conditioning is as much part of the problem as part of the solution", Decoville explained. It cools indoors by pushing hot air outside. It fails to cool the streets. It fails to make outdoor activities more pleasant. During the June heatwave, the capital's ice-cream parlours noted that customers had simply stopped leaving home.[1]

The arc

The heatwave lasted seven days. The yellow alert was extended again and again. Schools hit 35°C. Hospitals hit 30°C in patient rooms and had 15 air-conditioning units where 60 were needed. Ten fires burned in a single night. Blue-green algae cancelled the Ironman. A forest burned in Mullerthal. The rivers hit record lows. Half the corn may be lost. And then, a study published on the day the heatwave finally eased shows that 85% of the population wanted urgent action before any of it happened. In winter. When the heatwave felt very, very far off.[1]

The hospitals will get their new building in 2029. Diekirch will get its park. Luxembourg City will get its 37 greened sites. The question the LISER study asks is whether this is enough, and whether it is fast enough, and whether the people who need the adaptation most, the lower-income residents who live in the hottest neighbourhoods with the least access to green space, will be the ones who get it first. 85% of the population said yes. The other 15% said they felt protected. The heatwave did not ask how they felt.[1]