Page 63 - Çevre Şehir İklim İngilizce - Sayı 2

Hayriye Eşbah Tunçay

2. Squares and Streets

Urban squares are the symbols of social and economic importance in cities.
As they are the socio-political center of settlement in a sense, they need
to host an extraordinary number of people in certain times. Squares that
serve an intense amount of people, vehicles and commerce, seem to have
a long tradition of structures with very defined hard surfaces, surrounded by
structures peculiar to European cities. The plants in the square are usually
used to provide shades, while water is placed for just aesthetic concerns, to
benefit from its sound and appearance. However, from now on, a different
approach should be adopted for the squares in our country. Especially with
climate change, as these solid areas virtually act as a reflective surfaces, they
may increase the urban heat island effect even further. Moreover, cities need
carbon capturing mechanisms more than ever. The ever increasing amount
of irregular precipitation render the squares flooded, uncomfortable open
urban areas. In addition, they fail to provide a comfortable environment for
their users on dry and warm days due to overheating. For these reasons,
squares should be discussed with their shade and climate comfort functions
in mind. To this end, urban cantilevers and pergolas stand out as structural
solutions while cladding the squares with having more plant material can
be another mechanism that can create a microclimate and capture carbon
more efficiently. It shouldn’t be forgotten that trees can decrease the surface
temperature of a paved parking lot by 2.2 °C, and the cars parked in this area
by up to 8.3 °C. A single tree absorbs 21.77 kilograms of carbon dioxide a
year, which reaches a capacity to capture 1 ton carbon dioxide by the time the
tree reaches 40 years of age.
Squares are areas with structural landscape elements due to intense
human circulation in the area (Figure 3). In areas dominated by structural
landscape, the amount of surface run offs is really high. Especially in cities with
combined sewage systems, the gray infrastructure fails to carry enough water,
the emerging pollution endangers human health. Therefore, nature-based
solutions that can filter the overflowing polluted water should be designed
along with our squares.
For this reason, such impermeable squares that cover areas of considerable
size can be utilized to collect the surface runoffs in the streets and avenues
and use this water for the irrigation of nearby green areas, or for recreation
by creating a water surface. This will not only support the green infrastructure,
but also serve as a seasonal attraction at the center of the city. Moreover, it will
turn into a treasure that will benefit many creatures which fail to find a habitat
in the city. It will influence the social system positively (Figure 4).

49 Journal of Environment, Urbanization and Climate