by Lily Whittle
illustrated by Anoushka Guli
This summer has been hot. Exceptionally hot. The UK hit 40oC for the first time since records began (Met Office), but the harsh reality is this temperature hike was not experienced the same by everyone.
There have been reports of rising temperatures for years now, with ten of the hottest years on record having taken place since 2002 – the consequence of fossil fuel emissions fundamentally altering our biosphere. Heatwaves have become an expected outcome of human-induced climate change. Yet, if this heating is expected, why does it still feel like the government isn’t doing anything about it for the people affected the most?
A recent Climate Change Committee report found very few new builds are made to withstand these high temperatures, continually built with heat-absorbing concrete leaving “existing and new homes uninhabitable as temperatures rise”. There has been a move to make London ‘sustainable’, with Sadiq Khan making London the first National Park City in 2019. While this encourages a focus on protecting and prioritising urban greening, it does not legally bind developers to make new builds climate resistant or stop them from building at all. London real estate is still a highly lucrative market, so without legal requirements for climate resistant building, developers will continue to build without consideration of the ever increasing pace of global warming.
The issue with governments throwing around the term ‘sustainability’ is that it is too vague and covers a multitude of actions, making accountability impossible. Sustainable infrastructure should see cities ‘meeting the needs of the present without compromising future generation’s ability to meet their needs’, but whose needs are even being considered?
In London, what we are seeing is affluent areas taking on projects such as localised urban greening or new air-conditioned offices to tackle the heat, while poorer areas continue to see the housing stock replenished with cheap, easy to build, concrete high-rises which are essentially heat-traps. The CCC also found that new builds’ structural integrity will be compromised by the high temperatures, as the expansion and drying of materials will lead to cracking. With the appalling government response to the structural failures of Grenfell Tower, it is frightening to think how the increased structural failures of housing blocks will be dealt with. With the recent election of hard-core fossil fuel fan and former Shell employee Liz Truss, it is unlikely government sympathies’ will be with those facing the consequences of climate breakdown.
This is the same story for cities across the globe. With 68% of the world’s population expected to be living in cities by 2050, it has never been more pressing to make our cities adaptable to the inescapable rise in temperature. Right now, in the UK, climate change is having a disproportionate effect on low-income families and particularly people of colour. Inner city areas are some of the most deprived areas of the UK, yet feel the greatest effect of heat waves due to the Urban Heat Island effect. If you were in London for the heatwave, you were undoubtedly faced with the unbearable heat emitted by city structures. While many people can crank up the AC or escape to a nearby park or garden, this is not a privilege all Londoners have the ability to access and enjoy.
Short-term fixes in response to heatwaves, such as reliance on air conditioning, have a knock-on effect for the rest of the city, which only exacerbates the problem. Air conditioning units emit hot air into the urban landscape, impacting other city users. Where the vast majority of Londoners do not have access to AC, an electric fan might be the next go-to, but with the skyrocketing price of energy bills, this is not a luxury many can afford. While the Met Office has published advice such as shutting your blinds to keep heat out, this can be similarly unfeasible: households following this advice will have to turn their lights on during the day, adding an extra cost to their extortionate energy bill.
When staying inside became unbearable, many chose to spend the heatwave out of their homes. Unfortunately, poorer neighbourhoods often lack the same immediate access to urban greening. Research carried out by the Runnymede Trust, the social and affordable housing stock in London is largely made up of tightly packed high-rises, where access to green space per resident is much lower than in more affluent areas, particularly as housing blocks rarely offer access to private green space.
The insufficient housing provision in London is only part of the problem faced by working people during the heatwave. Commuting to work becomes a challenge too: with many city workers choosing the London Underground as their main form of transport, the lack of air conditioning and access to water transforms the tube into a lethal tin can. Without legislation defining a maximum temperature cap for working, many workers were left with an ultimatum, to work in the heat – or not get paid.
There is a common sentiment in climate activism that ‘we are all in this together’, claiming that the effects of climate change are felt across the world, no matter who you are. The stark truth, however, is that we are not. Those who have had the least to contribute to increased warming are currently feeling its effect the most, yet have the least resilience against it. Where low-income families in London may live more sustainably, travelling on public transport or having a smaller consumer footprint with lower disposable incomes, they feel the heat the most when the temperatures rise.
Collective action is a fantasy when the effects are disproportionate. The effect of the heat waves on our cities is only part of the story, but it perfectly illustrates the unequal consequences climate change forces on society. If we truly want to see our cities becoming sustainable, we need to see the social housing stock retrofitted with heat-withstanding materials, reducing our reliance on polluting AC units, and equalising access to urban green space. Workers’ rights need to be protected so workers aren’t faced with the ultimatum of losing their jobs or facing lethal working temperatures. Only then will we achieve genuinely inclusive and sustainable cities that will be future-proof against the inevitability of continued global warming.
