Does the way our suburbs are built make it easier or harder to get around on sweltering days?
Two weeks ago, Sweltering Cities ran our first ever Cool Walk Community Meetups in Footscray and Sunshine to answer this question. Over 20 passionate community advocates from Melbourne’s West came along to meet each other and map hot spots heating up the area, and cool spots people love and want to see more of.
We began each walk with an Acknowledgement of Country, standing nearby the Maribyrnong River on the lands of the Wurundjeri People. We reflected on the importance of waterways as a source of cooling and connection.
In Sunshine and Footscray, we heard lots of great ideas for cooling our suburbs, including:
- More shade in playgrounds
- More trees and greenery on the streets
- Shade and shelter on bus stops
- Cooler, more walkable streets that aren’t heat traps on baking hot days
Footscray Cool Walk
In Footscray, 15 community passionate community advocates joined us on a sweltering 32-degree day for our Cool Walk.
We paused at several key locations to reflect on how Footscray is designed to handle heat. These stops included Footscray Station, shaded and unshaded bus stops, Ercildoune Reserve, a hot, busy intersection, and Grimes Reserve.
We started the walk standing at Footscray station, where Footscray community advocate Pierre shared how Footscray has changed over the last 10 years. He told us about the effect of traffic noise and fumes from trucks, and how the area is built for cars which makes it hard for people to get around Footscray on foot, especially on baking hot days.
At the start of the walk, people shared how awful it can feel to wait for a bus in the baking heat. This is a big challenge for everyone, but especially for people with kids, those without cars, carers, outdoor workers and older folk. While standing at the station, there were comments on the lack of shade and trees making it hard to get around Footscray on hot days.
The Cool Walk begins!
Here’s how people described waiting at Footscray station on baking hot days:
- “No shade despite trees; heat radiating from hard surfaces; seats not shaded”
- “Heat radiating from asphalt, no cooling ‘oasis’ anywhere
- “Walking to stop 2 I noticed the street trees were chopped because of the electricity wires”
On the left: One of our stops was a bustling intersection, which becomes a mini urban heat island in summer. On the right: We also stopped at a small park, which lacked shade, shelter or water.
Here’s what people had to say about the intersection above:
- “No shade at traffic lights. Heat radiating from all directions, no shade, very windy, no shelter, hard surfaces everywhere.”
- “No shade, heat radiating from floor/building. No green areas to absorb heat.”
When visiting the park in the photo above people said:
- “I wonder how much community input they got when building this park?”
- “I would not bring my kids here”
- “We need shade, especially over play equipment, water play would be great, water bubblers, cool ground cover, different spaces for different people.”
Sunshine Cool Walk
We stopped at various stops including Sunshine station, HV Mckay Gardens, Brimbank library, a busy intersection, and unshaded bus stop.
Here’s what community members told us about how it feels to walk around Sunshine on a hot day:
- “Sunshine station is okay for shade – but nowhere to sit & breastfeed.”
- “Brimbank library is a great place to seek shade, tables under trees are good but seats are not comfortable.”
- “Sunshine Station has very little shade, trees don’t provide much.”
- “Library has aircon, free, nice space – has toilets & water. Grass area has no shade – seating but it’s metal” (metal becomes very hot in the sun).
- Narrow footpaths & impossible to feel safe with pram.”
One of our stops on the Sunshine walk was a busy intersection. During hot days, intersections become mini urban heat islands because of the hot building materials, lack of shade, and direct exposure to the sun. We heard that on hot days, some residents avoid walking across intersections because they of how baking hot they become.
Across the Sunshine and Footscray walks, people told us that they want to see:
More shade: streets lined with trees, shaded bus stops, and playgrounds that are usable during hot summers
More walkable streets: cooler footpaths, water bubblers, and green spaces that make getting around comfortable, even on hot days.
Improved public transport: shaded bus stops designed to protect people from waiting in the baking sun, and walkable, shaded routes to bus stops and train stations.
Cooler streets: lighter road surfaces that don’t absorb as much heat, drinking taps in public spaces, and more greenery and trees to reduce the urban heat island effect.
What’s next?
Our Sunshine and Footscray Cool Walks were such a success and we’re excited to host more over summer!
We’ve already gathered powerful data from these two walks which will go directly to decision makers to advocate for changes like more shade, trees, water bubblers, and cooler streets.
Stay tuned for upcoming Cool Walks in your area, we’d love to see you there! The more data we collect, the stronger our case becomes, and the harder it will be for decision makers like local government to ignore our calls for action.