Rome, Italy, is experiencing extreme heat, and the city’s multimillion-dollar cooling piazza is struggling to provide relief. The piazza, which was revamped in 2024 with a 14 million euro budget, was designed to be a green oasis for tourists and locals alike. However, the extreme heat has led to dead trees, no shade, and seating that is too hot to sit on.
Challenges of Combating Heat
The city of Rome says it will replace the trees and upgrade the irrigation system. Some of the dead foliage has been cut down in preparation for the new trees’ arrival. The city’s Climate Office director, Edoardo Zanchini, admitted that the revamped piazza should have been planted with different trees. The city is committed to figuring out how to adapt to unprecedented heat, with a focus on providing adequate shade, building cooling centers, and removing asphalt to make way for more trees.
Rome has committed to spending around 50 million euros over the next five years to create spaces where everyone can find relief from the heat. The city has introduced initiatives such as opening movie theaters for free during the hottest time of the day and installing hundreds of ‘water houses’ to provide free cold water. Despite these efforts, the city is still struggling to combat the extreme heat, and the cooling piazza remains a challenge.
Original reporting: KEYT (Ventura/Santa Barbara) — read the source article.
