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Whether in Miami, Athens, or Santiago, dedicated ambassadors are stepping up to tackle extreme urban heat around the world.

Eleni Myrivili, one of the field’s pioneers who currently serves as the Global Chief Heat Officer for UN-Habitat, spoke to AFP about the urgent need to redesign cities to keep asphalt-riddled areas from turning into impossible-to-escape “ovens” for the most vulnerable populations.

Why are cities at the center of your work?

We identified that cities are basically the Ground Zero of heat, where we have the most dire impacts.

Cities today are heat traps and they are built for other types of temperatures, for a different climate. So we need to understand and totally change our perspective as to how we retrofit and develop new areas.We do it in ways that take into account the fact that we will be dealing with a totally different climate in the next decades.

Can you give us examples of solutions your team worked on?

In Athens, we worked on the categorisation of extreme heat, so that there are specific thresholds that trigger different types of policies and actions during heatwaves to make sure that we protect the most vulnerable populations.We created heat campaigns, so people understand how dangerous heat can be for their health and what they should be doing during heatwaves.

Creating shading structures specifically for people waiting for trains or waiting for buses, so that these have special cooling aspects, like misters or like white or green roofs on them so they do not absorb heat while people are standing right under them. Of course, almost all of us have created plans for nature-based solutions and for bringing more nature into the cities.

How has climate change impacted your region?

On average in the Mediterranean part of Europe, we have about 29 days of strong heat stress (relative to the average for the 1991-2020 reference period), but we jumped from the 29 (average) to 66 (days) in the summer of 2024.

That’s what we mean when we say that the average global temperatures have surpassed 1.5 degrees Celsius from the pre-industrial era, it means that on the ground we see these extraordinary heat seasons.

How can cities prepare against these nWe need to be prioritising shade, wind and water, and, of course, nature.

This also means that we have to bring within our development and city planning projects other types of expertise. We have to bring in landscape architects. We have to bring in ecologists, foresters, people who understand thermodynamics.

On a very large scale, but also on a very local scale, we have to consider water as the most crucial element that will break us or make us as we deal with rising heat.

In contrast, can you give us an example of what maladaptation can look like in urban spaces?

Air conditioning is a great example of maladaptation because it creates more problems than it solves.

Urban Genesis smartwatch has been launched in India with a 1.45-inch circular AMOLED display. It was introduced in the country on Thursday and comes with a metal chassis, a stainless steel block strap, and two functional buttons. Users can utilise the wearable to track their heart rate, blood pressure, blood oxygen saturation level (SpO2) and sleep. It is claimed to offer up to seven days of battery life. The watch has an IP67 rating for dust and water resistance.

Urban Genesis Price in India, Availability

Urban Genesis price in India is set at Rs. 3,999. The smartwatch is available for purchase through the official e-store, Amazon, Flipkart and select offline retail stores across the country, the company added.

Urban Genesis Features, Specifications

The Urban Genesis sports a 1.45-inch AMOLED display with always-on display support. A Dynamic Island-like bar appears on the screen to show notifications comprehensively. It supports Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity with iOS and Android devices, and allows users to receive Bluetooth calls. The smartwatch comes with several preset workout modes like track walking, running, cycling, and skipping.he company equips the Urban Genesis with more than 100 watch faces. It offers quick access to AI voice assistants like Google Assistant or Siri for hands-free commands and smart control on paired devices. The smartwatch is equipped with a functional, rotating crown, and another button.

Urban claims that the Genesis smartwatch comes with heart rate, blood oxygen level, blood pressure, and sleep cycle trackers. It helps monitor stress levels and has a ‘Breathe’ mode that is claimed to help users regulate their breathing. The watch also offers users regular hydration alerts. The Urban Genesis is claimed to last for up to seven days on a single charge. It has an IP67-rated dust and water-resistant build. The watch supports magnetic wireless charging. It arrives with several built-in games.

The BJP-led Delhi government has reduced the annual MLA Local Area Development (LAD) Fund from Rs 15 crore to Rs 5 crore, officials have said.

In October last year, the previous AAP government in Delhi enhanced the MLA LAD Fund from Rs 10 crore to Rs 15 crore, months ahead of the assembly polls. The AAP was defeated by the BJP in the polls held in February this year.

According to a recent order issued by Urban Development Department of the Delhi government, the MLA LAD Fund as per a cabinet decision on May 2, has been kept at Rs 5 crore per assembly constituency per year.

“In pursuance of Cabinet Decision No. 3187 dated 02.05.2025, the allocation of fund under MLALAD Scheme has been kept at Rs 5 crore per assembly constituency per year from financial year 2025-26 onwards,” said the order.Further, the Council of Ministers has directed that this will be an untied fund and could be spent for the approved works of capital nature as well as repairs and maintenance of the assets without a ceiling, added the order.A BJP MLA said that the government set aside Rs 350 crore under the MLA LAD Fund that was divided into Rs 5 crore each among the 70 legislators in Delhi.

In the previous AAP regime, Rs 4 crore was provided to each MLA in 2021-22 and 2022-23, which was enhanced to Rs 7 crore in 2023-24.According to a recent order issued by Urban Development Department of the Delhi government, the MLA LAD Fund as per a cabinet decision on May 2, has been kept at Rs 5 crore per assembly constituency per year.

“In pursuance of Cabinet Decision No. 3187 dated 02.05.2025, the allocation of fund under MLALAD Scheme has been kept at Rs 5 crore per assembly constituency per year from financial year 2025-26 onwards,” said the order.

Further, the Council of Ministers has directed that this will be an untied fund and could be spent for the approved works of capital nature as well as repairs and maintenance of the assets without a ceiling, added the order.

In many Indian metropolitan cities, even a brief 10-minute spell of rain is enough to cause severe waterlogging, creating major hurdles for daily office commuters. The recurring issue is often blamed on poor urban planning and inadequate drainage systems, which fail to cope with sudden downpours, leading to traffic snarls and disrupted routines. Bengaluru is the latest city to suffer this season, with intense rainfall leaving several areas submerged and causing widespread disruption to daily life. Despite the chaos, many working professionals are still expected to brave the flooded roads and stalled traffic to report to their offices, highlighting the city’s perennial struggle with urban planning and water management issues. Arun Vinayak, a Bengaluru resident and co-founder of Exponent Energy, was among those severely affected, encountering a surreal scene on his commute: his car was submerged underwater, and water was flowing inside his carSharing this pathetic situation with the social media users, he posted a photo of his waterlogged vehicle on his X account, saying, “Building hardware in India is even harder if you have to make your office and cars and homes IP67. #underwater #batteryok #engineersnotok en route to work today.” The humorous reference to “IP67” – a standard for water and dust resistance – struck a chord online. “IP67” indicates a device’s protection against solid objects and liquids. The first digit “6” signifies full protection against dust and solid particles, ensuring no internal contamination. The second digit “7” means the device can withstand temporary immersion in water. 

The viral post has got over 60000 views, and many social media users are commenting on it.

“Throw a few fish in there and get a pedicure by the time you reach,” one unser commented humorously.This happened in Mumbai in 2005; people got permanently handicapped or even lost their lives due to this exact occurrence,” wrote another user remembering the Mumbai floods.

“Bengaluru needed a car-cum-boat now. IT companies should think of a new home now,” commented a third user, suggesting that the IT companies should relocate to somewhere else.

On the edge of Vadodara’s Chhani Lake, a quiet transformation is underway. What was once a patch of underutilised land is now a thriving urban forest – its saplings taking root, birds returning, dragonflies skimming small pools of water. This 900 square metre urban forest has over 3,000 species of trees – the success of which has led the city government to scale this up across several sites in Vadodara. Urban forests, dense and layered, are cooling microclimates, hosting pollinators, and offering residents spaces to reconnect with something quieter, older, and essential.

This is not an isolated project in India, nor is it a beautification effort. It is part of something bigger: a shift in how we think about development, about cities, its biodiversity and about our place in nature.Udaipur, for instance, has been granted the prestigious status of “Wetland Cities” under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, joining an elite list of 31 Wetland Cities worldwide. The city is not only preserving its lakes and historic charm, but thriving in its bird population, providing valuable lessons in urban wildlife conservation. A research study on “Characteristics of Bird Niches in a Small Indian City: Effect of Migratory Status, Season, and Environmental Variables” recorded an impressive 208 bird species within Udaipur. Our intervention – developing an urban forest at Mohta Park to achieve lower greenhouse gas emissions and increase resilience – has made Udaipur city replicate it in 4 locations. The larger vision is to create 100 patches of Miyawaki Forest

Biodiversity considerations are being built into urban infrastructure plans. One of the most successful examples of this is the development of seven biodiversity parks in Delhi. Funded by Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and managed by Centre for Environmental Management of Degraded Ecosystems, University of Delhi, these parks are live success models of re-establishment of the natural ecosystems (Yamuna flood plains and Aravalli Mountain Range), through ecological restoration.Like Vadodara, Udaipur and Delhi, cities in India are experimenting with afforestation drives, nature-based solutions, and green infrastructure. From creating their City Biodiversity Index (CBI), putting in Local Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (LBSAP) – a framework to guide and implement biodiversity conservation and action within city areas in place, to the state of Goa, developing People’s Biodiversity Registers (PBRs), which document the biodiversity as well as traditional ecological knowledge, in 73 local governments, cities are convinced that as urban heat rises, air pollution worsens, and water tables fall, biodiversity is emerging as a buffer-and in many cases, a lifeline. 

India also updated its National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP), at the 16th meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP16) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in November 2024. Kirti Vardhan Singh, Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, and External Affairs, highlighted that India adopted a ‘Whole of Government’ and ‘Whole of Society’ approach.  

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