Climate change poses many challenges to our planet, and the effects cannot just be examined in the world’s oceans but rising temperature levels are heating up our cities. Heat waves, heavy rains, and dry periods are increasing, and policies must be adapted to these changing conditions. In the urban context, this is tightly intertwined with public space issues such as the extent of greeneries in dense urban environment and its effects on the microclimate. We will discuss this challenge for international examples such as Dhaka and Maputo and look at local Viennese initiatives that strive to analyze the impact of different materials and vegetations on the formation of heat islands and counteract with innovative solutions.

Guiding Questions:

• What are the main issues we are facing in the context of climate change and its influence on cities and how can we ensure an integrated approach when analyzing them?
• What are short- and long-term solutions to problems such as heat islands, and which synergies can we make use of in their application?

“60 Elephants. Episodes of a Theory“, AT & FR, 2018, 22 min, by Michael Klein & Sasha Pirker

Yona Friedman´s architectural and urbanistic theories are famous, starting with those of “self-planning”. While they date back to half a century ago, they seem to have become topical. Sasha Pirker and Michael Klein film in Paris, at home, but also in the streets, and while his voice supports the images, he will never appear on them himself. A fertile back and forth is set up between the urban landscapes and the provocative wisdom in the voice of this old elephant. (JPR, catalogue FID Marseille 2018)