Seville: 1,000-year-old technique against city warming

From more shades to high-tech solutions, the city of Seville in Spain is implementing measures to mitigate the scorching heat. In summer, people don't leave their house until 8pm and festivals usually start at 10pm. Built on the banks of the Guadalquivir River during the Middle Ages, the Spanish city regularly records temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) during July and August. And scientists expecting temperatures above 50°C in the near future.

Among the strategies to face the heat, the city has been installing awnings to protect people in several places, creating new public fountains, planting more trees and adopting building materials that reflect the heat. But the main innovative answer is called CartujaQanat, a €5 million pilot project that aims to reduce average temperatures by around 10°C in a region of the city and is scheduled to be completed in October (click here).

In fact, engineers came up with a way to replicate the ancient Persian technology of the qanats. These systems, developed over 1,000 years ago, consist of the construction of underground channels that transport water across a large area that needs to be cooled. Vertical shafts drilled along the channel bring underground air to the surface, lowering above-ground temperatures. Click on the image below to read more.

And here are two other posts about the Qanats:

• an academic one, by the American Philosophical Society “The Origin and Spread of Qanats in the Old World"

• another on tourism, Qanats of Persia as UNESCO World Heritage Sites