City Cool Labs brings vital information to respond to climate change in urban areas :As temperatures rise across South Africa’s cities, the impacts of extreme heat are not felt equally. In wealthier suburbs, tree-lined streets and open spaces help keep temperatures down. However, in densely populated areas such as Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain, there is limited vegetation and high-density housing with heat-retaining materials that can push temperatures dramatically higher—by as much as six degrees in some cases. Inside informal homes, that difference can climb to a staggering fifteen degrees.

These patterns are emerging in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban. —turning extreme heat into a growing public health and economic crisis.

Now, a new global initiative is aiming to change that. The World Resources Institute Ross Center for Sustainable Cities has launched the Cool Cities Lab—the first platform of its kind to map heat exposure down to individual streets and blocks. In this half hour, we unpack what the Cool Cities Lab means for South African cities, and how it could help build more climate-resilient, equitable urban spaces. To share her insights, we are joined by...  

Guest: Amanda Gcanga -  WRI cities program lead in South Africa