Madrid’s battle against extreme heat: How Zurich is helping enhance the city’s climate resilience

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The splash fountains in Madrid’s Río Park along the Manzanares River opened a month early in April 2023 following a heat wave that saw mainland Spain record its hottest ever temperature for the month. A sizzling 38.8 C (101.8°F) – and it wasn’t even yet summer.

April’s searing heat was a prelude to an incredibly hot summer. Southern Europe grappled with record-breaking temperatures caused by a slow-moving anticyclone that trapped hot air in a “heat dome” to cause long-lasting and intense heat waves. Madrid endured three heat waves during the summer of 2023 with temperatures often exceeding 40°C (104°F).

Temperatures at these levels can be deadly. At 35°C (95°F) the body’s ability to regulate its internal temperature is compromised. This can result in heat cramps, heat exhaustion, heatstroke and, ultimately, death. For instance, extreme heat killed more than 60,000 people in Europe during the summer of 2022. This issue is heightened as many homes, critical infrastructure and utilities – from power plants to hospitals – are not designed for these extreme temperatures.

It’s for this reason that Madrid City Council has turned to Zurich Spain and Zurich’s global risk consulting unit, Zurich Resilience Solutions (ZRS), to provide climate change analysis services and advice on how to adapt to these evolving conditions.

Madrid has a roadmap outlining how it will become a climate neutral city by 2050 called the Madrid 360 Environmental Sustainability Strategy. But it also wants to become a “cooler city.” With temperatures expected to rise throughout the century due to climate change, the city council wants to implement sustainable initiatives to prevent Madrid from overheating during the summer months and to protect vulnerable people from excessive heat.

“We need to continue analyzing and addressing the risks and vulnerabilities derived from climate change,” says Juan Azcárate Luxán, Deputy Director General of Energy and Climate Change at Madrid City Council. “We plan to integrate Zurich’s expertise into Madrid’s climate adaptation strategy focused on our people.”

With its data-driven approach, ZRS is helping Madrid City Council to identify and quantify its exposure to short- and long-term climate risks – particularly extreme heat. It is also helping to define measures to enable the city to increase its climate resilience and adapt to more frequent, intense and longer lasting heat waves.

Madrid City Council has also asked ZRS to provide analysis and recommendations on how its schools can become more heat resilient. Hot weather can cause performance levels to drop and absenteeism to rise. It can also exacerbate any health issues that schoolchildren may have.

The urban heat island effect

One reason Madrid is affected by heat is due to the urban heat island effect. This is a phenomenon where cities are warmer than surrounding rural areas due to the built environment and heat generated from vehicles and other sources.

“Madrid has a very dense downtown,” explains Francisco Lisbona, Director of ZRS in Spain. “It’s a highly urbanized environment covered in concrete and asphalt. These materials absorb heat during the day, then slowly release it when the sun goes down. It means the city gets no respite from the searing heat of the summer sun.”

The problem goes beyond Madrid. There are more than 350 cities around the world, home to 200 million people, that experience summer temperature highs over 35°C (95°F), according to research from C40. But due to global warming, these figures are expected to rise to 970 cities with 1.6 billion people by 2050.

Extreme heat can also create a cascade of interconnected risks as it can put pressure on essential city services such as health, water sanitation, transport infrastructure, and utilities. “One example is power failure resulting in shortages or even blackouts,” says Amar Rahman, Global Head of Climate and Sustainability Solutions at ZRS.

Heat waves are also an economic drain as they reduce productivity, particularly in predominantly outdoor industries like construction or strenuous industries such as manufacturing. It is estimated this causes an 8 to 22 percent reduction in output that will cost the global economy USD 2.5 trillion a year by 2030.

Making Madrid a cooler city

So, what’s the answer? “Adaptation,” says Rahman. “Cities need to plan for heat waves and educate their residents about how to stay safe during extreme heat. Businesses need to adapt their buildings, infrastructure and working hours to higher temperatures. This may be costly but retrofitting buildings and upgrading equipment will not only reduce demand on infrastructure, but also protect the workforce.”

Madrid City Council has made climate adaptation a priority. It plans to focus on the use of nature-based solutions by replacing hard surfaces with green space and introducing water-permeable surfaces to combat the urban heat island effect, while also building flood resilience. It intends to introduce more trees, shaded sidewalks and use more reflective building materials. And it wants to make greater use of water. The opening of Madrid’s Río Park in 2015 is a prime example. The eight-year project required the underground burial of a major highway to open access to the Manzanares River and the creation of adjacent green parks. Now residents have a beautiful public space that provides respite from the heat.

“I’m proud that ZRS can help Madrid – the city that I now call home – to adapt to rising temperatures and heat waves,” adds Lisbona. “Heat waves have increased in frequency and have even altered the seasons. A city that can adapt to this phenomenon can enhance the future quality of life of its inhabitants and potentially save lives.”

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