Public Spaces and Climate Change (7-14-08)

The UK’s Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) has prepared an insightful report profiling ways that public spaces can be designed to accommodate global warming. As CABE states “Thoughtfully designed public spaces offer urban areas their best opportunities to adapt, offering water storage, cooling and carbon absorption.” Case studies from across the planet are used to illustrate the CABE’s point that “Spaces that are softer, greener, more organic and natural will store water and are critical to modifying urban temperatures. Green spaces with a generous planting of trees link to form a network offering cooler, cleaner air.”

Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment. 2008. “Public Space Lessons: Adapting Public Space to Climate Change.” http://www.cabe.org.uk