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Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the south-western US known for its scorching temperatures, is experiencing such rapid warming that its long-term sustainability is being called into question.
The surge in the city's population – now topping 1.6 million, making it the fifth largest in the country – has prompted significant expansion in infrastructure, leaving few green spaces.
This expansion has given rise to heat islands, which are urban areas that become dangerously hot as they absorb and release the sun's heat more effectively than natural landscapes.
Over the summer, temperatures soared to an astonishing 47°C, and the city shattered its previous record for the most consecutive days with temperatures above 43.3°C.
The climate crisis and decades of rapid urban expansion have scorched this desert city, which is also facing dwindling water supplies.
When questioned about how they cope with the hot summers in the Valley of the Sun, many residents told The National: “We stay indoors.”
In response to escalating temperatures, Phoenix in 2021 launched the country’s first dedicated unit to combat the increasing urban heat hazard.
Phoenix has an ambitious vision to emerge as the most environmentally sustainable desert city worldwide. Over the years, efforts have been focused on discovering solutions for alleviating the heat.
Among the simplest methods identified is the strategic planting of trees to shade 25 per cent of the city by 2030.
Phoenix is about one million trees away from achieving a Tree Equity Score of 100.
Tree Equity is dedicated to ensuring people benefit from trees, from the shade they provide to their air-filtering processes.
“If we can figure out the best way to plant and care for trees in desert conditions amid a changing climate in Phoenix, we can create a viable model for other hot cities,” said Jake Simon, senior manage of Urban Forestry Southwest at American Forests.
“Our goal is to preserve and grow urban forests in the most heat-vulnerable neighbourhoods by creating ‘cool corridors’ for walking and well-canopied city parks that enhance recreational opportunities and mitigate heat islands.”
This is an urgent, life-and-death crisis for many people living in America’s fifth largest city
Jake Simon,
senior manager of Urban Forestry Southwest at American Forests
Mr Simon told The National that extreme heat is a problem for most metropolitan areas in the US.
“This is an urgent, life-and-death crisis for many people living in America’s fifth largest city,” he added.
In 2021, Phoenix hired David Hondula as its first director of the Office of Heat Response and Mitigation, the first local government-funded heat team in North America.
Mr Hondula oversees Phoenix's immediate actions and long-term plans aimed at improving comfort and cooling measures.
He told The National they are using a “very broad approach” to mitigate heat by installing cool and green roofs, electrifying buildings and ensuring housing infrastructure has cooling systems.
They are also actively engaged in transitioning the city's vehicle fleet to alternative fuels.
Phoenix’s proactive approach in addressing excessive heat has also led to the “cool pavement” initiative aimed at enabling surfaces to deflect solar radiation rather than absorbing it as heat.
Characterised by extensive pavement and buildings, Phoenix is classified as an “urban heat island”, with the abundant concrete and asphalt surfaces absorbing and trapping substantial heat.
This results in elevated daytime temperatures and reduced night-time cooling and is where the concept of cool pavement becomes significant.
Cool pavement is a water-based asphalt treatment that is applied on top of the existing asphalt. It produces an average surface temperature that was up to 12°C cooler than traditional asphalt at noon and in the afternoons.
By introducing cooling technologies as well as planting trees, Mr Hondula said, the city in the future could be significantly cooler than it is now.
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Directed: Smeep Kang
Produced: Soham Rockstar Entertainment; SKE Production
Cast: Rishi Kapoor, Jimmy Sheirgill, Sunny Singh, Omkar Kapoor, Rajesh Sharma
Rating: Two out of five stars
