The Importance of Re-Engineering Conventional Parks

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A lot of modern cities aren't designed to cope with the amount of water that is already falling on them and will likely fall on them. The only solution really is what a lot of cities are doing, which is to mimic the natural hydrology of what was there before. One city I'd look at is Copenhagen that had an enormous downpour in 20 years. So that's using green infrastructure really, taking out the hard carapace and replacing it with things that can soak up water makes a huge amount of difference.

As the planet warms, and intense heatwaves become the norm, our urban environments need a radical rethink to keep them habitable. So what do we want the cities of the future to look like? In the first of our special series of episodes looking at what a future world could look like, Madeleine Finlay speaks to author and historian Ben Wilson, Prof Jessica Davies and Prof Diane Jones Allen about how to create cities that are fairer, greener and more self-reliant.. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod