Portrait of the event

Over the next thirty years, the world's population is set to increase by 2 billion, bringing the total to 9.7 billion by 2050. Currently, more than half of this population lives in urban areas. It is expected to represent 60% of the world total in 2030 and 70% in 2050. This population is subject to an anthropization of climatic conditions favoring the emergence of a type of urban climate that causes urban overheating.

This climate manifests itself in the deterioration of air quality, mainly due to the use of fossil fuels, and in rising temperatures due to human activities and the replacement of natural surfaces by artificial ones. Urban populations are particularly vulnerable. The health consequences can be catastrophic, as recent heat waves have reminded us. All sectors of activity are potentially affected, and awareness of the risks associated with overexposure to extreme heat is increasingly widespread.

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A good example of this are the many recommendations issued by the organizers of the forthcoming Paris Olympic Games. These recommendations are aimed at spectators and athletes alike, and include advice on how to combat adverse urban climatic conditions.

Research into urban climate issues is therefore crucial. It is varied, often multidisciplinary and developed in a systemic and integrated way. Research-action projects focus in particular on urban parameters and morphological factors likely to impact the climate signal, techniques and tools for understanding these phenomena, the most appropriate spatial and temporal scales, climatic evolutions specific to urban environments and their adaptations, their modelling and the transition to operational phases and their concrete translation into urban planning and requalification, among other things.

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