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Generate shadows without trees: vegetable awnings, a new way to generate shadows in the city.
(www.singulargreen.com)
I found these kind of cool as an idea, as they can be added rather easily to existing cities and provide some greenery without taking up space, while providing shade:
Cities already have plenty of shadows. That’s why they’re called “concrete canyons”.
People in cities need more sunlight, generally speaking.
Sort of, but sun on concrete tends to result in a lot of extreme heat. Cities sometimes have microclimates a few degrees hotter than the surrounding area just because concrete is so bad at dissipating heat. Plants and trees tend to do a lot to moderate temperatures.
It results in extreme heat on places continually bombarded by sunlight, eg the tops of buildings, and parking lots. Down in the canyons it isn’t as much of a problem.