"The right to be cool" is a phrase that has been mentioned a few times in recent years.
There are fewer green spaces and street trees in those areas where poorer people live. They are less likely to be able to afford mitigation measures such as air conditioning or even fans with their extra electricity cost. Homes are perhaps older and made from materials or with window designs which don't allow heat to escape.
The articles in the newspaper also referred to Paris.
Many more people live in the centre of Paris (and other European cities) than live in central London. This is made possible by hundreds of thousands of apartments in blocks with winding staircases (check out Jeunet and Caro's 'Delicatessen' for a characteristically dark representation of one such block).
The roofs of many of these buildings are made from zinc. They heat up rapidly and make the inside of many apartments unbearably / dangerously hot.
In the 2022 heatwave, it was thought that over 5000 people died in Paris.
Even last week, over 2000 excess deaths were recorded.
There has been a focus on air conditioning - and that is also featured in the issue of the paper - although we won't be able to air-condition all of our farms.
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