As Perth braces for another long summer, many of us are already thinking about how to stay cool. At Sweltering Cities, we’re hearing from people across WA who are noticing how much harder it’s getting to escape the heat.
For Barbara Pedersen, a retired environmental planner living in inner-city Perth, the summer heat is both a personal challenge and a professional concern.
Barbara remembers last summer vividly, especially the long stretches where her apartment never cooled down.
“We had a run of hot days and all my effort to keep my apartment cool didn’t carry through as the building heated up. I couldn’t open it up at night because we had periods when nights were over 27 degrees.”
Living in a high-density part of the city, Barbara says she feels the urban heat island effect more and more each year.
“Much as I love my sky views, my apartment up on the third floor isn’t shaded by trees. There are few trees in my area, so the cooling impact of vegetation isn’t something we experience. The heat island impact in my area is becoming more pronounced.”
She’s now planning for the summer ahead, considering additional insulation and other ways to “future-proof” her home against rising temperatures.
Like many Perth locals, Barbara’s family has learned to plan their days around the hottest hours.
“We time when we get together and when we go outside. You have to schedule to avoid the heat of the day — go to the dog park or the beach later in the afternoon when the sun’s lower. No picnics in the middle of the day anymore; it’s just too hot.”
For her, small adjustments like staying hydrated, choosing shaded routes, and avoiding peak heat have become routine. But she worries that these changes reflect a city that’s no longer designed for its climate.
“Our cities aren’t being built for the heat ahead.”
Barbara’s work in environmental planning gives her a front-row seat to Perth’s growing population and where we’re falling short in the present and in building for the future of the city.
“We can already see the pressure of population growth and more homelessness. That can push politicians to demand that urban planners to allow poor-quality housing — apartments without windows, or homes that aren’t insulated or ventilated properly. I fear we’ll see more housing that just isn’t built for our climate.”
She says our approach to housing, design and infrastructure needs to catch up to the reality of a hotter climate, particularly for the most vulnerable people – renters and the elderly.
“You don’t know what to plan for if you don’t know what’s coming. The federal government has a climate risk assessment that should be released and shared across all levels of government. They need to sit down and actually work on a plan of action and do it fast, because delays are costing us more and more.”
“We’re ignoring our natural capital.”
Barbara also points to the importance of trees and green spaces in keeping our cities liveable.
“People really appreciate their parks and gardens. We know from COVID lockdowns that local green spaces are critical, and yet we’ve got a continuing appetite to cut down trees and ignore our natural capital. I’m looking forward to seeing better protection of trees across our city landscapes.”
Barbara’s story shows how climate change is being felt at every level, from daily life at home to the systems shaping our cities. Perth’s hot summers are no longer just uncomfortable or business as usual, they’re a sign that our housing, planning and infrastructure need urgent attention.
At Sweltering Cities, we’re working with people like Barbara to make sure every community can stay cool and healthy as we experience increasing extreme heat in our cities.
If you’ve got a story about how heat affects you or your community in WA, we’d love to hear it. Reach out to nat@swelteringcities.org to share your story.
Keep an eye on this page for volunteer opportunities, events near you, and ways to support our work. Click to subscribe to our mailing list to keep an eye on all things Sweltering Cities over an unprecedented 25/26 summer of action ahead.