Perspective
How the Science of Infection Can Make Cities Stronger
To meet local challenges from climate change to corruption, city governments should make their best ideas go viral.
Photographer: Orbon Alija/iStockphoto via Getty Images
Earlier this year, a group of European researchers published a study with a scorching conclusion: As climate change makes heat waves more prevalent across the continent, the city most vulnerable to excess heat deaths is not a warm southern metropolis, but the relatively cool city of Paris.
Why? In part, the reason is that historically hotter cities have developed adaptations for dealing with extreme heat, from the shady architecture of Palermo to the siestas of Madrid. That leaves Paris at the bottom of a deadly learning curve.