What's your solution to escaping a cruel summer? Going to the pool? Turn on the fan or air conditioning? Put a tank top? How about living underground?
This was the choice of many residents of the city of Coober Pedy, Australia. According to a BBC report, about 60% of the residents there live in underground houses. I bet you're reading this and turning your nose up!
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But look: on the surface, the temperature can reach 52 ºC (especially in 2023, the year in which we see the heat increase considerably across the globe). However, underground the climate remains always pleasant.
Underground dwellings also help in winter, when thermal levels above can reach several degrees below zero.
(Photo: Shutterstock/Reproduction)
Coober Pedy: empty on the surface, but bustling underground
When looking at Coober Pedy “from above”, it can be confused with the desert regions of Australia. On the surface, the city is very empty—almost ghostly. But below ground, the situation is different.
As you go down the buildings — which must be at least four meters below the ground, at risk of collapsing — the climate becomes milder and people start to appear.
It may not seem like it, but there is comfort in the houses and underground buildings. About 70% of all energy consumed there is wind or solar. This makes using electricity cheaper and sustainable.
However, as published by the BBC, turning on the air conditioning can become expensive and impractical.
Good prices and absence of insects
Also according to the report, one of the biggest advantages of underground houses in Coober Pedy is the price well below average. A three-bedroom house is around 40,000 Australian dollars (something around R$ 129,000).
To give you an idea, the value of homes in Adelaide, the closest city to the region, is US$700,000 (a frightening R$2.25 million).
In these houses “in the ground” there are also no insects, because they are closer to the surface. There's no noise, and earthquakes they don't do much damage. Most of the time — and depending on the size and complexity of the underground construction — it's nothing more than vibrating noises.
However, none of this means that living underground is without problems. The most common are residents accidentally knocking down neighbors' walls and, eventually, the house collapsing.
It's not common, according to one of those interviewed by the report, but if you're in a bad area, it can happen.
And you, would you dare to live in an underground house?
Graduated in Social Communication at the Federal University of Goiás. Passionate about digital media, pop culture, technology, politics and psychoanalysis.