Over 62,000 people dies from heat in Europe in the summer of 2024 alone, according to Barcelona’s Institute for Global Health. Since then, heatwaves have done nothing but intensify. They happen more often, last longer, and are more powerful in regions like Latin America, one of the most urbanized in the world, where by 2025 some 82% of people were living in cities according to the Interamerican Development Bank.
Extreme heat has become part of the new city normal. Concrete, traffic, and a lack of parks, turn entire districts into heat islands, where the temperature can be several degrees higher than in surrounding areas, including during the night.
But heat does not affect everyone equally. It depends, among other things, on access to spaces where people can shelter. In various cities across the world, from Barcelona to Buenos Aires and Santiago de Chile, networks of climate refuges are being rolled out, spaces which offer relief in the face of heat and, in some cases, also against the cold.
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A climate refuge is an open or closed space that offers conditions of thermal comfort to protect against extreme heat or other climate events. They can be open spaces like parks, gardens, bus stops and squares, or closed such as museums, schools and other public buildings. In some cases, they include specially-adapted infrastructure such as cooled bus shelters and roof gardens.
A climate refuge is an open or closed space that offers conditions of thermal comfort to protect against extreme heat or other climate events.
Spain has 2,122 climate refuges, about one for every 23,000 inhabitants, according to a recent inventory. Catalonia has the most extensive network in the country with 1,707 of these spaces, 366 of which are in Barcelona. Since 2020, the Catalan capital has led the roll-out of this network with more than 400 climate refuges in summer and around 300 in winter, City Hall data reveals.
The Basque Country is next with 245 climate refuges, while other communities such as Murcia, Aragon and Madrid have smaller networks. In several northern areas, where extreme heat has been historically rarer, their presence continues to be limited.
Research by the Biological Mission of Spain’s Scientific Research Council (CSIC) in Galicia points out that “climate refuges are becoming critical components in urban adaptation strategies”. Their effectiveness, however, depends on much more.
“Our country has developed one of the most advanced climate refuge networks worldwide, with extrapolatable principles for different regions and contexts,” the research authors explain. “This experience has shown that climate refuges can be a powerful tool for reducing thermal effects, but only if they are consolidated with stable, accessible services and designed to cover real needs, not as one-off measures.”
Since last year, Spain has been working to create a national climate refuge network. These include spaces adapted in civic centers, swimming pools, libraries, parishes, community spaces and, in some cases, small businesses.
Climate refuges can be a powerful tool for reducing thermal effects, but only if they are consolidated with stable, accessible services and designed to cover real needs, not as one-off measures.
They are also the subject of innovation. In Seville, for example, they have designed refrigerated bus shelters able to reduce the temperature through systems that combine water storage, circulating fresh air and solar energy. This technology allows the thermal effect to be kept between 20 and 24º C on the inside, while it might exceed 40º C on the outside.
Another similar solution is being implemented in Madrid via an evaporation and ventilation cooling system at bus stops which can reduce temperatures by 9º C.
A report by Greenpeace, though, analyzed refuges in 16 Spanish cities and found limitations such as restricted opening hours, insufficient resting areas and the fact that not all the refuges were free of charge. To this, add the difficulty of supervising the effectiveness and cost-benefit relationship of the initiatives, as well as a lack of communication about the existence of some of the refuges.
Buenos Aires has more than 250 climate refuges distributed across museums, libraries, community centers and green spaces. The spaces are free of charge and accessible, offer heat relief, drinking water and, in many cases, air conditioning.
Here, the climate refuges are not limited to buildings. They are also areas where nature has been opened up. Ecological coastal reserves, formed from recovered land from the River Plate, act as green lungs in the middle of the city. The vegetation and closeness to water allow temperatures to be reduced and offer respite from urban heat.
The Southern Ecological Coastal Reserve, for example, has become one of the most biodiverse parts of the city with hundreds of species of birds, reptiles, fish and mammals in an environment which, as well as its ecological value, fulfils a key function in the face of rising temperatures.
But its reach is limited. In the capital, these reserves are few and far between, isolated, and not always accessible to all the population.
At the beginning of 2024, in the middle of a heatwave, the Chilean capital launched its Climate Refuge Network, following the initiatives in Barcelona and Buenos Aires.
From this surged the Refresh Yourself network, a circuit of urban climate refuges and hydration points for people and pets. According to the Municipality of Santiago, the initiative has so far made available 20 distribution points in the commune, which are open between 10.00 and 18.00, coinciding with the periods of the most intense solar radiation. They allow water bottles to be refilled and offer shade and rest areas.
It is important where climate refuges are located, who can access them and whether they really are available for the vulnerable people who most need them.
A recent study by Corporación Ciudades identified 77 cold zones in the Chilean capital. These can reduce the temperature in the 12 communes most affected by heat by 5.5°C, with a high potential for acting as urban climate refuges. Among the spaces with greatest cooling effects is the Santiago Amengual Park in the capital, which has managed to reduce the surface area temperature with respect to the communal average by 5.5°C.
Climate refuges offer a response to an immediate problem. But they are also evidence of something more profound. Neither cities nor people are equally prepared for standing up to more and more extreme heat. It is important where climate refuges are located, who can access them and whether they really are available for the most vulnerable people in the midst of a heatwave.
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