Vol. 29 No. 1 (2025): BEYOND DECARBONIZATION toward a Climate Neutral urban environment
Research and Experimentation

Blue-green urban oasis: creating strategic cool spots in overheated neighbourhoods

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  • Mariana Pereira Guimaraes,
  • Valentina Dessì
Mariana Pereira Guimaraes
Dipartimento di Architettura e Studi Urbani Politecnico di Milano, Italia
Valentina Dessì
Dipartimento di Architettura e Studi Urbani Politecnico di Milano, Italia
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/techne-16596

Published 2025-07-31

Keywords

  • Thermal comfort,
  • Evaporative-cooling,
  • Liveability,
  • Climate adaptation,
  • Holistic cross-scalar approach

How to Cite

Pereira Guimaraes, M., & Dessì, V. (2025). Blue-green urban oasis: creating strategic cool spots in overheated neighbourhoods. TECHNE - Journal of Technology for Architecture and Environment, 29(1), 205–218. https://doi.org/10.36253/techne-16596

Copyright (c) 2025 Mariana Pereira Guimaraes, Valentina Dessì

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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Abstract

The paper presents a methodology for adapting to urban overheating by creating strategically located blue-green oases – combining vegetation and water systems to enhance neighbbourhood thermal comfort. Focusing on Milan’s Corvetto district as an example, the methodology includes 1) identifying socio-environmentally vulnerable neighbourhoods at the city scale; 2) mapping existing cool spots within the neighbourhood; 3) identifying areas beyond a 5-minute walking radius from these cool spots; and 4) proposing local interventions, such as water-based solutions (WBS), in urban spaces that could become new “cool spots”. The results highlight a network of potential new cooling spaces.

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