Shade in the City: Scarce and Unevenly Distributed

This article was originally published in Dutch on NUL20.nl, on 16 June 2026. With NUL20's permission, we translated the article into English. Written by Wendy Koops

Heat stress causes sleep problems, lost productivity, and mental and physical health issues. According to the RIVM, heat in Amsterdam is already causing about 100 deaths per year, primarily among the elderly and people living in urbanized neighborhoods. The study “Global patterns of inequality in pedestrian shade provision” by the AMS Institute, MIT Senseable City Lab, TU Delft, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Wageningen University & Research measures heat where it is actually felt.

“We wanted to visualize where people experience heat,” says researcher Lukas Beuster of the AMS Institute and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). “On the sidewalk, while waiting for a tram or sitting on a park bench. That has hardly been done before, certainly not on this scale and in so many different cities.” He wasn’t surprised that socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods in the nine cities studied worldwide are significantly more exposed to heat. What did surprise him, however, was the persistence of that inequality. “We knew that vulnerability to heat stress in homes is linked to income. Now we wanted to know if this also applies to pedestrian spaces. It does.”

Immediate Results

Lowering the air temperature in a city is valuable, but complicated and a long-term endeavor. According to Beuster, shade offers an immediate and local solution. That’s because our bodies perceive heat not only through air temperature, but primarily through radiation: short-wave (directly from the sun or reflected by clouds) and long-wave (reflected by surfaces such as asphalt). “Shade is great because it immediately reduces radiation exposure. As soon as you step into the shade, you feel relief.”

Both buildings and trees are effective sources of shade. Trees also cool the air through evapotranspiration. “In densely built-up areas, you only need to plant trees on one side of the road to provide protection. That’s why this study focuses on the interaction between shade from buildings and trees.”

The Legacy of Urban Planning

Amsterdam’s city center scores well because of its dense development, tall buildings, and courtyards. “Because there are no front yards, shade falls on the sidewalks.” In postwar neighborhoods with wider streets, lower buildings, and younger trees, shaded routes are often lacking. Car-centric design has contributed to the shade gap. “Those areas are sometimes very green, but not in places where pedestrians go. Even in more affluent neighborhoods, you see that it’s mainly private spaces that are green. A tree in the backyard does nothing for someone walking down the street. This research is about raising awareness and exploring how things can be improved.”

The uneven distribution of shade is the result of historical decisions regarding issues such as street width, density, tree budgets, and maintenance. “Shade was rarely considered part of the infrastructure, so no conscious decisions were made about it.”

Traditionally, cities in Southern Europe and the Middle East were built compactly, with narrow streets and tall buildings to minimize solar radiation. The walls were thick and the windows small. The rise of air conditioning has supplanted this millennia-old solution. “Without air conditioning, we would never have been able to build all those glass towers.”

It is precisely in places where people have less access to cars or air conditioning that shade is scarce. Shade in public spaces encourages social interaction and a sense of community, says Beuster: “When people retreat into their homes, we’re exacerbating individualism. Creating shade is the first step. But we also need to think about what we do with that shade. Do we put cars or benches there? Too often, it turns out that parking spaces are shaded, not the sidewalks.”

This research builds directly on the Slim Shady project, which identifies which sidewalks lack shade. “Together with students, I’ve used new indicators and data combinations to try to pinpoint which locations should be prioritized. This turns out to be very difficult from an external perspective. That’s why I want to see how our big data analysis relates to the real world and to real people.”

Toekomstplek

This summer, he and Margaux Loubser of Studio Matter are touring Amsterdam with their installation Toekomstplek. It is a collaboration with various partners, including the city of Amsterdam and GGD Amsterdam. Recently, Toekomstplek was in Zuidoost, at the invitation of the housing authority Eigen Haard & Weerproof Amsterdam. They focus primarily on indoor heat stress, but also recognize the importance of shade for residents’ well-being.

'Toekomstplek' is inspired by the 'Toekomststoel' (Future Chair), an initiative to always place an empty chair in boardrooms to represent future generations. “This is a living room that moves through the city, asks questions, and tries to map out how different neighborhoods experience heat, what they need, and how different neighborhoods can become more comfortable, healthier, more social, and more inclusive.”

According to Beuster, awareness of the existence of the “shade gap” should lead to action. “Invest in shade in places where it is needed most. The City of Amsterdam is already doing this and has previously identified shade as one of the missing pillars in its climate adaptation strategy. We must first plant trees, because they offer many additional benefits. That isn’t possible everywhere, due to underground infrastructure or sightlines. Large open squares like Dam Square may need to remain clear for emergency services and events.”

Where trees aren’t an option, well-designed artificial shade may offer a solution. However, there are still a few steps that need to be taken. “When we plant a tree in Amsterdam, we know what the process entails. With shade sails, questions arise such as: Who is responsible for installing the shade sails, or for their maintenance? Who is liable, and is there sufficient funding to cover the costs? In some Mediterranean cities, shade sails are already being stretched across the streets. The necessary anchor points have already been installed, and the process has already been established. I expect that in the coming years, various methods of providing shade in public spaces will be integrated into the guidelines.”

Urban densification, new construction, and redevelopment all offer opportunities to put shade on the design agenda. When planning maintenance for infrastructure or public spaces, the City of Amsterdam already takes climate adaptation and the mitigation of heat stress into account, but this is a slow and fragmented process. “Designers, housing authorities, and residents also have a role to play here.” Ultimately, for Beuster, it’s not about who has more or less shade. “Ideally, I’d like us to start treating shade as a public amenity.”