13 October 2026, by Newsroom editorial office

Photo: AdobeStock/mbruxelle

How can cities adapt to extreme temperatures? A new EU project is searching for solutions.

Reports of new record temperatures are everywhere. In a new research project, Dr. Malte von Szombathely of the University of Hamburg is investigating how Hamburg can adapt to extreme heat. The project is funded by the European Union as part of the Horizon Europe program.

As part of the Protecting urban livelihoods from severe heat extremes (PULSE) project, the university team will test three approaches in close collaboration with the City of Hamburg, one of the project’s six model regions. In addition to an immediate measure—risk warnings in public transit to raise awareness—two long-term solutions will also be implemented over the next four years.

“One of our approaches is to create so-called climate oases at heat hotspots where particularly large numbers of vulnerable people, such as the elderly or children, live,” explains Dr. Malte von Szombathely, who works at the Research Center for Sustainability and Climate Risks at the University of Hamburg. To this end, selected areas would be unsealed, greened, shaded, and equipped with cooling water features through participatory processes. “We will then investigate whether this measure can noticeably reduce heat stress,” says the urban geographer.

Feasibility and Financial Viability Always in Mind

In addition, as part of the PULSE project, the team is developing a simulation model for heat stress that is intended to become part of Hamburg’s Urban Model Platform—a citywide virtual infrastructure for simulating various what-if scenarios. This should make the health risks posed by heat in individual urban areas easier to understand.

“We want our measures to directly benefit citizens, but we also aim to support planners and decision-makers. In doing so, we always evaluate the approaches based on their feasibility and financial viability,” says von Szombathely. The solutions from the model regions will be directly applied and tested in other cities as part of the project.

A total of 19 institutions are participating in PULSE. Coordinated by the Norwegian climate research center CICERO, they will work on various inclusive and transferable solutions for dealing with heat extremes. PULSE is receiving a total of ten million euros from the European Union for this purpose.

(This content has been translated automatically.)