Now, if only we can do something about the absolutely endemic heat desert effect we've created by caking our country in massive black asphalt parking lots and 6-lane freeways.
Nope, can't examine that. Parking lots are peak human design. The most logical design solution for our species.
They mention less heat as one of the multiple benefits of pavers / bricks.
I used to dislike them by default - "They're bumpy". They're not bumpy. There's a shopping center in my town, and even a new Taco Bell, that use pavers for their parking lot, and I can't even notice.
We could probably do pavers for new parking lots and keep asphalt / concrete for heavy-duty stuff like interstates and roads over 30 MPH and not lose much except the up-front cost of pavers. (But hey if Taco Bell thinks they're worth it...)
But bumpy is good!!!! A bumpy street is one where you drive slowly and don't run over children riding bikes to school. A bumpy street is one where you pay attention. A bumpy street says "you may drive here but this is not a space _just_ for your car".
If only they were more common outside the Netherlands. I love my bumpy, brick, tree-lined, narrow, street.
Every residential street should be paved with bricks or other paving stones, instead of asphalt. It's safer, because people drive more slowly. The maintenance costs are also lower.
"Bumpiness" could be climate related - I've spent a lot of time in the upper midwest US and Canada, the freeze/thaw cycles mean things move in the earth.
Only if the foundations are bad and the road surface is not rated for the axle load of the vehicles that drive on it. I live in Norway where it is hovering around freezing just now. The only places where this affects the road is where water has penetrated the foundations in such a way as to wash away some support or where heavy vehicles have cracked the road surface allowing water in which subsequently freezes. If the road is properly constructed and maintained with sufficiently good drainage on both sides frost heave (telehiv in Norwegian) should not be a problem.
I live in a place where we have a Tesco mall with a big parking lot nearby, but then I have to walk a path through a green area with mostly grass, but some trees and bushes as well.
The temperature difference is staggering. In hot summer, the parking lot is unbearable and the green area feels much better. In early spring/late autumn, the parking lot is uhm-okay (though still ugly), while walking through the green area gives you shivers: cool and wet wind.
Only in deep winter, during the freezing days, both areas feel the same.
TBF, my experience of america when I lived there, was that black asphalt was far less common than light grey (and thus higher albedo) concrete for both. Increasing albedo is considered to be one of the geo-engineering solutions to try.
Nope, can't examine that. Parking lots are peak human design. The most logical design solution for our species.