Major metropolitan areas are typically much hotter than the surrounding areas.
Where more people are congregated, there typically is more heat in the area.
There are tar roofs, black streets, concrete, and glass with a dense population that typically raises the temperature of that area by at least a few degrees compared to the surrounding areas.
When it is hotter in the area, it takes significantly more energy to help cool everything off.
While going with less air conditioning is an option, it is difficult to completely turn it off in some of the warmer areas of the country.
There are some changes that could help save energy by reducing heat absorption.
What if things that were darker in color were changed to lighter colors like white? If parts of the city were built or changed to lighter colors like roofs on buildings or possibly even streets, there would be more heat reflection versus absorption.
This means that it would be slightly cooler in the city meaning that across the whole area it would take a bit less energy to help cool the buildings and would in general feel quite a bit better outside on the warmer months of the year.
While dark colors typically are part of the metropolitan landscape, lighter colors could be easily used to help combat heat.
It is just a change in the way that certain colors are applied to the city.
What about colder areas of the country? In colder areas where heating cost and energy are a big issue, keeping the darker colors is an advantage.
The overall goal is to cut energy which can be good for resources and the environment.
There may be some less expensive changes to do first to save energy, but this is something to consider in the long run as an easy change that could be done.