By Tarun Gopalakrishnan
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As emissions continue to rise, India will suffer from warming worse than the rest of the planet — the global average temperature increase since 1900 is around 1.3 degrees Celsius; in India, the average temperature increase in the same period has already crossed 2°C.
These new realities have resulted in planning targeted at extreme heat. In India, at least 30 cities across 11 states have adopted such plans, a trend which began with Ahmedabad’s ‘Heat Action Plan’ in 2013.
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As average temperatures continue to rise, cities will have to move away from planning for heatwaves as ‘events’.
The aim, as far-fetched as it currently seems, has to be to design cities that are cooler than their surroundings. Crucially, this should not be achieved through air-conditioning, an inequitable solution which cools the interiors of a few while driving up the ambient temperature for most.
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Cooling cities will require a transition away from heat-absorbent materials, towards the use of alternative construction materials and technologies. The National Mission on Sustainable Habitat is aimed at such a transition, but it is unclear whether it is setting the right goals.
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