taz tests the cool places map: "Refuge from heatstroke"

The taz reported on the Heat Navigator today. In the article "Kühle Orte in Berlin: Zuflucht vor dem Hitzeschlag" [Cool places in Berlin: refuge from heatstroke], Claudius Prößer compares the maps that are meant to show Berliners the way to a cool-down when an official heat warning is in force.

His test field: the Senate's cool places map, the refreshment map of the Open Data Information Office and hitze.navigator.berlin. Around Gendarmenmarkt, the taz found two points of contact on the authorities' maps. On our map: around 40.

The difference does not come from counting more generously, but from different data work. Our map lists 473 cool places that are actually open in summer, each with an address and opening hours. Indoor pools in their summer break and closed ice rinks are dropped. 281 places charge no admission. On top of that come the live warning situation from the German Weather Service (DWD) and the heat score for all 143 Berlin Bezirksregionen, calculated from the climate data of the Berlin Environmental Atlas.

The timing could hardly have been better: since this morning, the DWD has been officially warning of extreme heat in Berlin, with 34 degrees forecast for tomorrow.

The article rightly notes that our map does not cover everything either, and that a complete overview still needs several sources. We take that as a task: the cool places database keeps growing, and we welcome tips about missing places.

Thank you to the taz for the critical look. Practical tests like this are exactly why we are building the project.