The Netherlands is enacting it's national heat plan this week. With temps forecast to be as high as 35˚C in the middle of the week. We need to talk about shade. Specifically, about the way our infrastucture is not designed for the new normal of these high temperatures in the summer.
In the heat of a summers day, by far the best thing a person can do is seek shade. Alas the way we have designed our built infrastructure makes this difficult. Take for example this bus stop in Amsterdam.
1/n
The Glass roof and sides makes the bus shelter light and airy. In the depths of winter, this is great, it stops it turning into a dark dingy space noone wants to use. Alas in the heat of summer, it turns the space into a furnace. The inspiration for this thread came about when I got sunburnt sholders waiting for a bus last summer. Not only does the lack of shade result in being hot and sunburnt, but it also heats up the bench in the bus shelter, a crucial piece of infrastructure for many.
2/n
This isn't a one off design flaw either. It's like the entire public transport infrastructure of the Netherlands hasn't taken into account the idea of providing shade for users. Take the design of Leiden Centraal Station bus station. This is the shelter provided. This one is a double whammy, It's crap in winter, and crap in summer. I don't know what the designers were thinking when they came up with it, but it's entirely unfit for purpose. There's not even a bench to sit on while you wait.
3/n
On my travels in Southern Europe last summer, I thought I'd check out what the locals do there. They have a lot more sun and hot weather than up in the frozen north. They have got to have solved this problem right?
This bus shelter is in Genoa, Italy. The photo sums up the design failure nicely. People having to stand behind the bus shelter because the bus shelter itself offers no actual shade in the shelter itself.
It's quite an impressive design failure.
4/n
But that's Northern Italy, it's not that far south, it can't be that hot there. What if we go further south? Say. Spain.
Well this is a bus shelter in Madrid. A city not known for it's cold grey weather... it's a bloody greenhouse. No shade offered here at all. Just a nice boiling hot place to quietly melt while you wait for your bus...
Another one of those cases where I struggle to understand what on earth the designers were thinking. Why would you build a glass box in a hot country?
5/n
To illustrate just how much of a challenge this is, we need to cross the pond to LA. And perhaps the pinacle of poor bus shade design.
La Sombrita. The design of this is so notoriously bad that I, a geek who's never set foot in the US has heard how bad it is.
This is a cautionary tale of the competing obstacles to proper people centred infrastructure. Announced with some fanfair as a shade solution for bus users in LA. It's been universally mocked. But how did it happen?
11/n
La Sombrita came about due to the competing jurisdiction wrangling of the LA street.
The transit authority don't own the pavement, so can't build a shelter there. They can't take space from the road, cos car space is sacred. They often also have to wrangle private interests in the areas around the bus stop too. The result is the only place the transit authority can put anything is on the bus stop pole itself. The need to handle winds dictate the perforated design. La Sombrita is...
12/n
Basically all they could do within the constraints of the various stakeholders of an LA street. The podcast 99% invisible have am excellent episode that details how this all came about, I highly recommend a listen (https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/shade-redux/).
But the rest of us need to heed La Sombrita as a cautionary tale. And in the meantime time pressure local councils to build better public transport infrastructure, and of course plant more trees. Lots more trees.
13/13
This past May, the city of Los Angeles rolled out a brand new, state-of-the art feature for bus shelters. It’s called La Sombrita. La Sombrita is a metal screen that’s intended to provide shade for the thousands of people who ride the bus every day. The shade screen is about two feet wide, ten feet
PostScript. Some of you are raising eyebrows at the feeling 30°C cooler claim. That's based on research by TU Delft. Note "feels cooler" Vs standing on direct sunlight.
https://www.tudelft.nl/io/onderzoek/sustainability/i-tree-20-nl
A summary of the research in English from nl times:
https://www.dutchnews.nl/2025/06/trees-are-natures-air-conditioning-lowering-city-temperatures/
@quixoticgeek
Don't overlook what money interests did to reduce shade in LA
"Universal Studios is receiving a fine of $250 from the City of Los Angeles after it trimmed down trees allegedly being used for shade by writers and actors picketing outside."
"proper people centred infrastructure" love the term & the concept! So much scope for improvement!! So encouraging to see the thinking & details of what could work... and what definitely doesn't work! Thanks again. 🙂
#PeopleCentredInfrastructure
#Infrastructure #BusStop #ScopeForImprovement
#ReconnectingConsequencesToCauses
Quixoticgeek
Ag. V.
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