The millennia-old Persian technique of "qanat" features underground channels filled with water and shafts that bring the cooler underground air to the surface. Seville is doing the same, adapting a 1992 experimental qanat to use renewable power and - in a new twist - pumping the water to the tops of buildings, where it will trickle down inside the walls to cool them. Even the benches will be chilled.
It sounds like a luxury, but it is nothing of the sort. Heat has become a leading health threat to cities, and not just in Seville. Last year 645 people died from overheating in Phoenix.
Counterintuitively, the fire trucks in Phoenix now carry ice, packed into body bags. Its first responders have learned through the experiences of the past few years that you can save lives by packing overheated people into ice - a coldwater immersion therapy used in extreme endurance tests, such as military training and marathon running-in order to bring their temperature down rapidly while whisking them to hospital.
Nor is Phoenix an outlier. On this year's hajj, the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, an estimated 1,300 people died in heat that surpassed 51C more than halfway to the boiling point of water, a toxic level that cooks human cells, thickens blood and cuts off oxygen to the brain. Extreme heat in New Delhi has killed more than 100 people in the last three months alone, probably a vast undercount. It is now considered unsafe to work outside at all in Doha, a factor behind the deaths of an estimated 6,500 migrant workers in the 10 years after Qatar won the right to host the World Cup.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
First mass 24-hour event to help people put down their phones
Haunted by a pile of unread books? Or taunted by outdoor kit lurking in the cupboard? If you are one of the British adults who spends on average five hours a day looking at screens rather than participating in pastimes, perhaps it's time to join the offline revolution.
No longer the king of bling The staggering fall of rap star Sean 'Diddy' Combs
Brooklyn's grim Metropolitan Detention Center is, for the foreseeable future, home to Puff Daddy, AKA Sean Combs, one of the best-known voices in American entertainment and whose business empire once seemed to know no bounds.
Brandenburg stakes Last-minute push by German far right in key regional election
B jörn Höcke shielded his eyes from the lights as he peered from the stage into the crowds gathered on a square in front of a gothic church in central Cottbus.
'It's guerrilla war' The fire teams facing arson chaos in Amazon
The occupants of the military tents at this remote jungle camp in Brazil's wild west T survey the hellscape surrounding them.
"The horror of it' Trial of husband and 50 men accused of wife's rape shakes France
On the narrow streets of stone houses with pastel-blue shutters, residents of Mazan were appalled that this picturesque village in Provence was being referred to in the media as \"the village of the rapists\".
West End revival Will a traffic ban lure shoppers back to Oxford Street?
From the rooftop of John Lewis's flagship store, the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, laid out the changes planned for Oxford Street below: \"We want a public realm that is world class, green, healthy and safe but also increases footfall in the shops.\"
Live and let fly James Bond chopper firm awaits decision on £1bn deal
The Merlin helicopter sitting on a factory floor in Yeovil is a sight familiar to James Bond aficionados from the climactic shootout of the 2012 film Skyfall.
Mental illness is Britons' biggest health concern, survey finds
Mental health has overtaken cancer and obesity as the health issue that is the biggest cause of concern for most Britons, a global survey reveals.
Noise, crime, crowds Rise in tourism stokes tensions in bustling Lake District town
Even on a weekday afternoon at the very tail end of summer, Bowness-onWindermere is bustling with life. Outside the town's pubs and bars, drinkers sip lager and sparkling wine in the warm September sun.
EU's new proposals on youth mobility will put Starmer 'reset' to test
Fresh proposals to allow young people to move between Britain and the EU will be presented to the British government within weeks, in what is seen as a significant early test of Labour's \"reset\" in relations with Brussels.