How do you make an open and paved urban space climate-proof?

A scorching hot city: not pleasant at all, but an experience we've encountered for several summers. As the planet continues to warm up and climate zones shift further, tropical temperatures, heat waves and drought will put their mark on daily life in the Netherlands on a more regular basis. How can the built environment, where effects of heat are often amplified, be adapted? In field lab the Heat Square on TU Delft Campus, four researchers are working together to find solutions. Until recently, the HittePlein at The Green Village was a bare, paved square like so many in the Netherlands. Anything but climate proof, as shelter was completely absent. After experimenting mainly with buffering and evaporation of water via paving and baseline measurements (temperature), Bam Infra Nederland takes on the square in the spring of 2023. Based on a sophisticated design, 630 m² of surface will be used to study spatial, meteorological and hydrological factors in conjunction. Above and below ground. The layout of the square is flexible, giving space to researchers and entrepreneurs to test innovations. Because the arrangement of the built environment partly determines how wind, precipitation and the sun's radiation and heat manifest themselves there. Integral approach. In the renewed field lab of The Green Village, which will be officially opened after the summer, four researchers from TU Delft will accurately map the relationship between the water cycle and the energy balance, among other things. The underlying question: how can this relationship be influenced in such a way that urban temperatures remain acceptable and water consumption sustainable?