The state capital Potsdam has been suffering from extreme heat during summers for several years as a result of climate change. A report published at the end of 2022 with data on the city's climate shows numerous urban heat islands, i.e. city areas, that through heavy soil sealing (concrete, asphalt or heavily developed areas) and missing vegetation heat up significantly stronger than the surrounding area.
The sub-project 'Cooling points' helps to protect Potsdam residents more effectively from extreme heat. People should have opportunities to cool down while on the move. More shade can help. For this purpose, different types of innovative irrigation management systems will be tested at two locations – at the Steubenplatz and the Johannes-Kepler-Platz. At the Steubenplatz a cistern will be built, while at the Johannes-Kepler-Platz a swale will be built. In both cases the drainage of rain water is planned, which does not just save drinking water, but also offers additional infiltration options in the case of heavy rain events. With the help of the cistern / swale the newly planted trees at both locations will be irrigated resource efficiently. Moreover, soil moisture sensors will support the efficient irrigation. This means that additional irrigation, only happens when the sensors indicate high levels of drought. Due to their shade and evaporative cooling, trees represent the most useful cooling elements in the long term. Other cooling elements, especially mist showers or similar, were discarded for Potsdam due to the emerging climatic conditions – especially increasing drought – in order to save valuable drinking water.
Long-term before-and-after measurements, using temperature sensors, will be used to evaluate the sub-measure. This makes it possible to measure by how many degrees Celsius the microclimate at each cooling point has cooled for each year. The better the trees thrive in both locations, the greater the cooling effect will be.
The cooling points consist solely of newly designed solutions. The locations and the temperature data collected will also be visualised in the Urban Data Platfrom and used for further sub-projects.
Contact AG Smart City: AG-Smart-City@rathaus.potsdam.de
