Record numbers of very hot days, hot nights make pedestrian-level ventilation and greenery essential to mitigating urban heat, experts warn
Living in a cramped 35 sq ft cubicle home in an old building in Hong Kong’s Sham Shui Po, Samuel Wong Wang-fat’s options for beating the heat are limited to using wet towels, turning on a small fan or sipping a cold drink.
His floor is divided into 15 shoebox flats that rely on a single air conditioner in the corridor that is too weak to keep any of the tenants cool. Wong is too scared to open his windows in case he lets in rats.
The 68-year-old cleaner rarely visits nearby shopping centres and restaurants in his densely populated neighbourhood to stay cool, while local “parks are hot and stuffy, with no breeze … I’d rather go home where at least I have a fan”, he said.
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