Climate & Cities
A green roof is a drainage argument that grew plants
Vegetated roofs are usually sold on biodiversity and installed because of what they do to rainwater in the first hour of a storm.
Climate & Cities
Heat, water, shade and retrofitting cities that were built for a different climate.
20 articles · updated August 11, 2026 · page 2 of 2
Climate & Cities
Shade is a public health measure with a maintenance bill
Getting out of the sun is the most effective thing a hot city can offer on a street. Providing it reliably is harder than it sounds.
Climate & Cities
Permeable paving works until nobody sweeps it
Surfaces that let rain soak through are a standard drainage measure. Their performance depends entirely on a maintenance task…
Climate & Cities
Cooling a city is an electricity problem before it is a comfort one
Air conditioning solves heat indoors by moving it outdoors and drawing power at exactly the hour the grid is most stretched.
Climate & Cities
Wildfire reaches a city through its gardens, not its forests
Fire at the edge of a built area usually spreads through fences, hedges, decking and stored fuel rather than by a wall of flame.
Climate & Cities
Cities count the emissions they make and not the ones they buy
A municipal carbon figure usually covers what happens inside the boundary. What residents consume from elsewhere sits outside it.
Climate & Cities
Electrifying the fleet changes the fuel and keeps the traffic
Replacing engines with batteries addresses tailpipe emissions. Congestion, road danger, space consumption and tyre particles are…
Climate & Cities
Ground floors flood first and that is where the shops are
Adapting buildings to flooding is less about keeping water out than about deciding what happens when it gets in.