Chemnitz heat islands: perspectives from art and reality
Round table on 18 July, 6 pm, Open Space, Brückenstraße 10
On Thursday, 18 July, from 6 to 7.30 pm, interested parties are invited to a discussion on the topic of "Chemnitz heat islands: perspectives from art and reality" at Open Space, Brückenstraße 10. As part of the exhibition "NEW ECOLOGIES - Gegenwarten II", the artist Anna Lorenzana, together with the City of Chemnitz's environmental department and the Thüringer Institut für Nachhaltigkeit und Klimaschutz GmbH (ThiNK), will be talking to guests about the topic of heat in Chemnitz.
Representatives of the media are also invited.
The motivations behind the art project, how heat is dealt with in Chemnitz and the results of the heat stress analysis will be discussed in an informal dialogue. Questions from the participants will take centre stage. Afterwards, there will be an opportunity to view the designed advertising pillar.
Anna Lorenzana has taken on the topic of heat islands. She translated the city's heat load maps into digitally modelled meadow areas. The result is an illustrated graphic that can be seen on various advertising pillars in the city from 21 June until the end of September. The "Heat Islands" project thus combines scientific data analysis with artistic exploration and raises awareness of the need to cool urban spaces.
Heat islands are places that heat up quickly, primarily due to high soil sealing, low shading and dense development. In these areas, the warm air cannot escape and heat builds up. On particularly hot days, this poses a danger to residents.
Background
At the beginning of July 2023, ThINK GmbH was commissioned by the City of Chemnitz Environmental Agency and the Saxon State Office for the Environment, Agriculture and Geology to take detailed thermal images of the centre of Chemnitz (Karl-Marx-Kopf, Stadthalle, Stadthallenpark) and the lower Kaßberg (André-Gymnasium, Andrépark) using a drone. With the help of remote sensing data, ThiNK determined the heat load in the entire city area.
The maps produced localise particularly vulnerable areas and show how high the heat load is in the individual areas of the city during the summer months.
The data obtained forms the basis for the heat section published by the City of Chemnitz on the occasion of Heat Day on 5 June 2024(press release 387). Based on this, measures are now being drawn up in a heat action plan in order to ensure that the population and the city's infrastructure are well prepared and protected for future periods of heat.
Further information on the topic of heat in Chemnitz can be found at: www.chemnitz.de/hitze