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Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera
Environment

How an ancient water tunnel design is cooling 21st-century streets

An aqueduct at the unopened CartujaQanat pilot project, an architectural experiment in cooling solutions inspired by Persian-era canals, in Cartuja island, Seville [Angel Garcia/Bloomberg via Getty Images]

Last summer, temperatures in the southern Spanish city of Seville hit more than 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). The heatwave was so intense it earned itself a name: Heatwave Yago, the city’s second named event in two years.

Seville, among other cities in Europe and around the world, is facing temperatures that it was not built to handle. In the summer of 2022, extreme heat melted railway lines and airport tarmac in London, England. In July 2023, Germans started considering midday siestas to escape the sweltering heat.

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