IMM DesignLab

04/09/2026

Greener, cooler, calmer: Warsaw opens new-look Złota street

The revamped street has fountains, relaxation areas and new trees.

04/09/2026

Before / After Voie Georges Pompidou under the Pont Notre-Dame, in Paris Center.

source:

04/09/2026

After Paris, there are now also analyses from London on how transport policy over the past ten years has changed air quality in the 🇬🇧 capital. The result is no less impressive:
London was long notorious for its poor air. Large parts of the city regularly exceeded the limit values. But then in 2016 London started a transport transition:

- 2020: Introduction of one of the world's strictest environmental zones in the city center
- 2023: Expansion of the environmental zone to all of London
- Expansion of the congestion charge to 7 days a week
- Increase of the congestion charge from €13 to €21
- Procurement of 1,300 electric buses
- Quadrupling of cycle paths from 90km to 400km
- 600,000 new trees planted and 900 hectares of new green spaces created.

The result: In 10 years, air quality has improved by 49%. Exceedances of limit values have dropped by 97%, and deaths from air pollution have decreased by 40% since 2019 alone. London's air is now cleaner than it has ever been since measurements began.
credits:

04/09/2026

🌍 The world is about to cross 1.5°C. This is not the end of the goal—but it is the consequence of decades of insufficient action.

According to the newly published UNEP report, Limiting Overshoot, exceeding 1.5°C of global warming is now widely assessed as unavoidable. The threshold established by the international community through the Paris Agreement was never an arbitrary number: it represented a critical attempt to limit the risks of pushing human and natural systems into increasingly dangerous and potentially irreversible conditions.

The challenge we now face is called overshoot.

The question is no longer simply whether we will cross 1.5°C, but how far above it we will go, how long we will remain there, and how quickly we can return below it.

Every fraction of a degree matters.

Higher temperatures mean greater risks for ecosystems, biodiversity, food and water security, human health, cities and infrastructure. The longer and higher the overshoot, the greater the probability of crossing irreversible tipping points and adaptation limits.

This is particularly relevant for cities.

Cities are where millions of people will experience the consequences of climate change most directly: heat waves, flooding, drought, water stress and increasing thermal discomfort. Urban adaptation can no longer be treated as a secondary environmental policy.

From an IMM perspective, mitigation and adaptation must become part of a single systemic transformation.

🌳 Green and blue infrastructure
💧 Water-sensitive urban design
🏙️ Climate-responsive urban morphology
🚶 Reduced car dependency
⚡ Energy-efficient buildings
🌿 Nature-Based Solutions
🔄 Circular urban systems

But we must avoid another simplification.

Planting trees alone will not solve climate change.
Adaptation alone will not solve climate change.

The city must become part of a broader transition in which emissions are drastically reduced while urban systems are simultaneously redesigned to protect people and ecosystems from the impacts that are already unavoidable.

The UNEP message is clear: overshoot is not a reason for resignation. It is a reason for greater urgency.

We have already entered unfamiliar territory.

The question now is whether we continue to react to the consequences—or finally transform the systems that are producing them.

1.5°C was a warning line. Crossing it does not mean that the difference between 1.6°C, 1.8°C or 2°C no longer matters.

It matters enormously.

🌍 There is no safe excuse for inaction—and no fraction of a degree that is not worth fighting for.

Read UNEP’s Limiting Overshoot report⁠

04/09/2026

There’s nearly no doubt that the intensifying El Niño will persist through February 2027.

Forecasts from WMO’s Global Producing Centres show that El Nino is expected to continue intensifying into a very strong event in the coming months, peaking towards the end of 2026.

El Niño impacts – including on global temperatures and rainfall patterns – will be felt well into 2027.

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿?

“The powerful 2023/2024 El Niño contributed to 2024 being the warmest year on record. We should not be surprised if this record is broken,” said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo.

The risks of floods, droughts and extreme weather may multiply and cascade as El Niño becomes stronger.

Climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture, trade, fisheries, health, energy, transport, water resources, disaster management will be particularly affected.

𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗯𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆?

No. The strength of an El Niño event alone does not determine how severe its impacts will be in any individual country or region. The location, season and other climate drivers also influence the impacts in a particular area.

National Meteorological and Hydrological Services provide the official warnings and climate information relevant to local communities.

Read our latest update for the expected conditions in different parts of the world 👉 https://bit.ly/4zUk77Y

04/09/2026

🚦 The Power of Slowing Down: 30 km/h Speed Limits in Cities 🚦

Take a look at this map! 💁‍♀️ In blue, we see streets where the speed limit is 30 km/h, and in green, those with a 10 km/h limit. Notice how entire neighborhoods are now almost entirely green, creating safer, more livable spaces.
Implementing 30 km/h speed limits across our cities brings countless benefits. It reduces accidents, decreases noise pollution, and fosters a more walkable, cyclist-friendly environment. Plus, it helps to reconnect communities that were once divided by fast-moving traffic.

Interestingly, the 50 km/h zones are now mainly confined to the Eixample and large avenues, while most residential areas enjoy the peace and safety of slower speeds. 🤗
Let's embrace these changes and continue to push for safer, greener, and more connected urban spaces! 🌳🚶‍♀️🚲

Picture: Barcelona

04/09/2026

“When streets belong to everyone, mobility becomes a bridge between people, places, and opportunities.”
🌍

04/09/2026

The Land Surface Temperature (LST) is the radiative skin temperature of the land surface, as measured in the direction of the remote sensor. It is estimated from Top-of-Atmosphere brightness temperatures from the infrared spectral channels of a constellation of geostationary satellites (Meteosat Second Generation, GOES, MTSAT/Himawari). Its estimation further depends on the albedo, the vegetation cover and the soil moisture.

Here the LST of a sector of the city of Milan.

Source: ESA

04/09/2026

🚶‍♀️🚫🚗 Car-free doesn’t mean city life stops — it means it adapts.

One of the biggest challenges in transforming our streets into people-friendly spaces is the last mile — the final step of getting goods directly to people.

From Barcelona’s Superblocks to the Woonerf concept in the Netherlands, many European cities are showing that pedestrianised zones can coexist with vibrant commerce.
How? By rethinking logistics:
✅ Time windows for essential deliveries
✅ Micro-hubs where goods arrive by truck, then switch to cargo bikes
✅ Direct consumer pick-ups at local shops or collection points
✅ Priority access for emergency and essential services

In Brussels’ Good Move Pentagon, for example, vehicles can enter in the morning for deliveries, while sustainable modes like cargo bikes have all-day access. This reduces through-traffic, keeps streets safe, and still supports local businesses.

The key is innovation and adaptation — turning the last mile into the greenest mile. 🌱

Would you welcome more cargo bikes and micro-hubs in your city’s car-free zones?