Heat wave: in Toulouse, City Makers improved that the temperature rises less when the neighborhoods are green
“Our objective is to raise awareness of the surface temperatures that can be observed and, above all, to show that there are things to be done”, explains Arnaud Rivière, member of City Makers. At the beginning of August, the collective took measurements in several places in Toulouse, while the agglomeration was facing scorching temperatures, which could be renewed next week. “There is a 4 to 6°C difference with other cities. We touch on the problem of heat islands, which are due to many factors,” he continues. Thus, between rue Falguière, which is not vegetated, and rue de la Concorde, which is vegetated, the temperatures on the ground are very different.
Among the most telling figures noted by the collective, these 54 ° C recorded on the Saint-Pierre bridge, which the town hall of Toulouse had chosen to leave to pedestrians this summer. “On the fresco, there is a difference of up to 10°C depending on the colours, the white is cooler”, specifies Arnaud Rivière. On a playground in the Maourine park, the mercury even exceeds 65°C on the ground, at the very beginning of the afternoon. Temperatures that depend on the materials used, the vegetation around…
Beyond this observation, the City Makers collective, which brings together engineers, architects and also scientists known for urban planning and development, wishes to convey a message. “We have renowned scientists in Toulouse on these subjects and the Métropole has already called on them on certain points. They should be called upon to establish systemic development rules”, believes Arnaud Rivière, citing in particular Julia Hidalgo, researcher at the LISTING (Interdisciplinary Solidarity and Society Laboratory). For him, the recent district of Montaudran, very mineral, is an example of what should no longer be done.