I have already mentioned the importance of the phenomenon of sea breeze that exists in all coastal climates.
Some sea breezes have been intuitively known for at least several hundred years and are part of the local culture of certain regions.
This is particularly the case of a sea breeze that blows over the city of Perth (2 million inhabitants), on the west coast of Australia.
It has a funny name: it is called "Doctor Fremantle".
This name does not come from a cartoon villain or any famous doctor of the city.
This sea breeze is called "Doctor Fremantle" because it passes over the city of Fremantle which borders the coast, more to the west of the city of Perth.
But why call it "Doctor" and not simply "Fremantle breeze"?
This would come from the fact that this sea breeze brought relief by cooling the inhabitants of the city of Perth during periods of intense heat.
Although it is difficult to know the origin of this expression, it would seem that this sea breeze helped save lives during the torrid days that this city experiences.
This is why the inhabitants would have started to call it "Doctor Fremantle".
This sea breeze also had the reputation of chasing away pollution and purifying the air, which explains why it was likened to a doctor.
This example shows that the role of sea breezes in urban cooling was recognized and integrated into the culture of certain cities.
This raises questions when we see how little consideration is given to breezes and winds in urban planning today.
As a reminder, the "Doctor Fremantle" breeze is also sometimes called "Doctor Freo" (short for "Fremantle").
This explains, among other things, why I chose to call my design office Freio.
Sources: Wikipedia, wordhistories.net
Image: ESA satellite view, annotated by C. Gaillard.