Ancient world knew the importance of shade. How did modern cities forget?

LA is on the tail end of a heat wave, with temperatures expected to cool off a bit today, into the high 80s and low 90s. Each year, heat kills more people than tornadoes, hurricanes, and floods combined. But we don’t talk about heat with the same urgency reserved for other natural disasters. What can go a long way to saving lives is shade, which lowers ambient air temperatures by as much as 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Humans used to know the value of shade and how to create it in cities. From the porticoes of ancient Rome to the alleys of Mesopotamia, many of the world’s oldest cities were packed with shade infrastructure. But many modern-day cities are so devoid of shade that they’re usually much hotter than the landscape around them. That’s known as the urban heat island effect. This