Life in cities, whether large or small, has always been shaped by the local climate. In Madrid, summer heat encourages people to go out late, once temperatures have dropped. In Stockholm, long cold winters encourage a more indoor lifestyle, marked by moments of social life such as fika, the afternoon ritual centred on coffee and pastries.
At a time when the global climate is changing rapidly and in unprecedented ways, it is natural to wonder whether these habits will stay the same.
Fondazione Capellino has begun to explore this question in partnership with two major European cities: Florence and Barcelona.
In both cases, the aim is to test nature based solutions to protect city centres, their residents, and the flora and fauna that live there from the most severe effects of the climate crisis.
This research could also prove useful far beyond the cities of Michelangelo and Gaudí.
How and why cities are heating up
Global warming is now widely recognised by the scientific community. In cities, its most immediate impact is seen in heatwaves. These can happen anywhere, of course, but in urban areas they are particularly dangerous because they add to the heat island effect. Concrete and asphalt trap heat, engines and air conditioning systems add more warmth, and in large cities temperatures can be several degrees higher than in surrounding rural areas.
According to the latest report from the IPCC, the United Nations scientific body on climate change, by 2050, 45% of the world’s urban population will be exposed to extreme heat.
The effects are already being felt. In Paris, the summer of 2022 was the hottest on record, with several heatwaves and temperatures locally exceeding 40°C. According to data released by the city council, New York could see up to six times more days above 32°C by 2080 than it does today. In Athens, one of Europe’s hottest cities, the Atlantic Council estimated in 2022 that productivity losses linked to extreme heat cost $100 million in a single year.
Too much rain, too little rain
Valencia, Spain. On 29th October 2024, a weather phenomenon known as a cold drop swept across this Mediterranean city, usually known for its modern architecture and sunny beaches. Within a few hours, as much rain fell as would normally fall over several months. The result, made worse by the local authorities’ poor emergency response, was catastrophic. 236 People lost their lives, tens of thousands were displaced, and a large part of the local economy was destroyed.
Although it is impossible to prove with complete certainty, several studies suggest that this extreme weather event was made worse by the climate crisis.
Urban climate change does not only mean extremely hot days under a blazing sun. Sometimes, it appears in the form of storms.
A solution called adaptation
The fact that the climate is changing does not mean that cities are destined to become unliveable, nor that the habits we value will disappear. The global scientific community has been working for decades on a wide range of solutions.
In cities, these can include restoring buried rivers, installing early warning systems, and creating climate shelters. One of the best known and most effective approaches remains the development of green spaces and tree planting, which helps to reduce temperatures, absorb local pollutants, and reduce risks linked to erosion and landslides.
It is within this framework that the projects funded by Fondazione Capellino in Florence and Barcelona are based. In these southern European cities, where summers are particularly hot, the foundation supports work to study and apply nature based solutions to the climate crisis.
Launched in 2023, the Florence project brings together the municipality, the University of Florence, and the National Research Council, with funding of €4.5 million over nine years.
The Catalan project, launched in 2025, is the first attempt to export the model developed in Italy. Fondazione Capellino designed it together with Parcs i Jardins, the public body responsible for Barcelona’s urban green spaces, and the research centre CREAF.
In both cases, the aim is to carry out field studies to identify the best solutions to help cities cope with rising global temperatures linked to the burning of gas, coal, and oil.
In Florence, a pilot project is underway pairing an urban area with a natural space, the Giogo Casaglia area in the Mugello region.
In Barcelona, several plant species are being tested in areas with different levels of environmental stress, in order to identify those that are most resilient.
Two essential projects
The importance of these projects is significant. Today, most people live in cities, and maintaining the quality of these environments is a priority. Initiatives such as those in Barcelona and Florence show that adapting to the climate crisis does not necessarily mean giving up comfort or making major sacrifices. On the contrary, making cities safer also makes them more pleasant places to live.
Fondazione Capellino is able to fund these projects thanks to the Reintegration Economy model. It is the sole owner of the dog and cat food brand Almo Nature, whose profits are fully reinvested into projects that give back to the planet, through initiatives that restore and protect biodiversity or help address climate change, as in this case.
We can therefore still hope that, in the future, we will continue to walk through our cities in summer, provided that we commit to protecting them.