Cultivating a cooler Athens

With Athens at breaking point over the last few days due to the scorching heat, calls are getting louder for simple measures to make it easier for residents to cope.

In comments to Kathimerini, University of Toronto architecture professor Petros Babasikas suggests public fountains, trees and plants in open spaces, rainwater harvesting, car restrictions and bike lanes.

"Create low-cost vertical gardens with scaffolding and large containers. There are unbuilt plots of land that the state can borrow to make nursery gardens," he said. "Athens has a large heated mass, materials that absorb and store heat, such as reinforced concrete. Also a big problem is that we have covered the surfaces of the city with inert materials, with asphalt, with concrete. These lead to a rise in temperature," he added.