Milan, Italy’s financial capital, is no stranger to sweltering August heat. But this year, the heat arrived early. In June, thermometers touched the mid-90s Fahrenheit, weeks ahead of the seasonal peak.

A study from Imperial College London reported that Milan suffered the highest number of heat-related deaths in Europe that month. Climate scientists say that should be a wake-up call for the city’s lawmakers but many residents say they see only political indifference.

On Via Pantano, a street in central Milan, Anna Gerometta watched as men in fluorescent vests poured fresh cement into the ground. The area was already baking under a glare of white concrete. Gerometta, who heads the environmental group Citizens for Air, shook her head in frustration. “It’s absolutely astonishing that this is really happening under our own eyes.” 

Gerometta has seen city plans that she said show there are no underground cables running below street level. She said that this would be the perfect opportunity for the city council to dig up the concrete and plant trees.

“It’s so disturbing to see a city that desperately needs cooling, wasting opportunities like this on yet more cement,” she said.

Summers in Milan are much hotter than before, said Gerometta, who’s 64 and was born in the city. She is particularly concerned about the elderly. “They don’t want to walk outside without shade, and they’re going to get hit by the heat.” She said the council doesn’t take that into account.

Geography offers little relief. Milan sits in the Po Valley, a humid basin with scant wind. Its sleek business district in the center glints with glass towers and skyscrapers. But head to the Navigli district in the city’s southwest, and temperatures drop by a few degrees.

A number of canals run through the district, making it more akin to Venice, or Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Left-wing city councilor Marco Mazzei stated that Milan was once renowned for its waterways. An 18th-century map shows a web of blue lines instead of streets, but he said most were paved over in the 1930s to make way for cars.

Fourteen years ago, residents voted overwhelmingly in a referendum to reopen the canals. Mazzei agreed that it could have been a natural cooling solution, but the city’s mayor dismissed the idea, saying it would be prohibitively expensive.

Instead, the municipality of Milan has turned to other measures. Three years ago, the council approved a new Air and Climate Plan, which includes an initiative known as Forestami. The aim of the scheme is to plant 3 million trees in Milan and its suburbs by 2030.

Luca Trada, with the environmental justice group Off Topic Collective, is unimpressed. “It’s greenwashing,” he said. He claimed that many of the new trees have died due to shallow soil and surrounding concrete.

Off Topic’s office is located a short walk from one of Milan’s most iconic landmarks, the Bosco Verticale, or “vertical forest.” The development consists of two residential towers clad in plants and shrubs. It was hailed as a triumph of sustainable design when it opened in 2015. But Trada sees it differently.

“It represents arrogance,” he said, noting that the monthly plant maintenance costs likely exceed the rent of an average Milan apartment.

Eugenio Morello, an urban design professor at Milan Polytechnic, said Bosco Verticale was innovative for its time but it was a luxury solution. Only the wealthy can afford to live there.

“It sends a message that nature in the city is only for the rich,” he said.

The real estate market is very aggressive in Milan and while developers promise green solutions, that’s clearly not their priority, he added. Morello believes that climate adaptation is not a priority for most lawmakers either. Politicians favor projects with visible short term results and climate action doesn’t work like that, he said.

“Many climate change initiatives don’t produce visible results for 10, 15 or 20 years,” said Morello.

Even simple cooling solutions, such as public swimming pools, are not widely available in the city at the moment. Morello said the vast majority of public pools in Milan are currently shut for renovation.

For now, Milan’s climate adaptation plans remain fragmented, despite scientists’ warnings that extreme heat will intensify. Morello said he tries to stay optimistic, and the commitment of the younger generation to fighting climate change inspires him.

“I see students at the university who are deeply engaged and eager to work in this field,” Morello said, but the vision of those upcoming urban designers can only take root if the city council commits to a broader, integrated approach, he added. One that treats climate resilience and urban development as inseparable parts of Milan’s future.

Ilaria Sesana contributed to this report.