We know the Nordic countries as the relatively colder places on Earth and as such, heat stress is not a much considered problem in this region. Climate-oriented planning more often addresses encouraging sunny spots in the dark winters, storm water management or otherwise. Despite this, extreme heat days and temperatures are rising, at an amplified pace in the polar regions specifically. Hence, the former design approach of minimizing cold winters will conflict with the upcoming predictions of increased summer heat stress throughout the Nordics. 

We aim to further investigate this in a Nordic context, creating an overview of potential cooling interventions and present an example microclimate case study of two public squares in Malmö. As such, our objective is to increase temperate microclimate considerations in public space design in an increasingly uncertain and warming Nordic climate.