Cities in the Global South are more exposed to extreme heat because they lack cooling green spaces, new research shows. The study found that Global South cities have just 70% of the "cooling capacity" provided by urban greenery in the Global North. The paper, published in the journal Nature Communications, is titled "Green infrastructure provides substantial but unequal urban cooling globally."
For a few years my wife and I were thinking of moving to Saigon, and this was one of the biggest reasons we chose not to. When we were considering it, they were even reducing the amount of green spaces, which is obviously the exact wrong direction.
EG this article from 2017 https://saigoneer.com/society/society-categories/10578-photos-a-bird-s-eye-view-of-saigon-s-remaining-green-spaces and this article from 2019 https://saigoneer.com/saigon-news/16954-saigon-s-urban-green-coverage-is-poor,-but-little-is-done-to-speed-up-park-projects
Yeah, I hate this. I remember when I was a kid (almost two decades ago), there used to be giant trees all over the city. Now, when you look out the window, it’s just an endless sea of grey.