The Earth is currently transitioning from a predominantly rural to a predominantly urban planet; from 2000 to 2030, urbanized areas will almost triple (Seto et al. 2012). The use of dark building materials, such as asphalt and concrete, leads to lower albedo in urbanized areas than in the natural environment (Rosenzweig et al. 2011), promoting local and global warming. In turn, increasing urban albedo could support climate stabilization efforts (REF). Here we study the potential effect of increasing albedo in a representative set of European cities based on three measurements: a) instantaneous radiative forcing; b) district cooling; c) reduction in mortality. We find distinct but surprising geographic variation in radiative forcing potential. Central European cities can modify radiative forcing as effectively as southern European cities, reflecting their sometimes relatively larger urban area. However, more local measures of urban cooling and particularly the resulting health impact show the highest benefits of albedo changes in southern European cities, highlighting the need for cooling policies. albedo geographically stratified to maximize benefits. Mitigation and adaptation to climate change is one of the most important goals. great challenges of our time (GEA 2012). While internationally, progress in tackling climate change remains stuck in complex negotiations (Edenhofer et al. 2013), cities could provide the appropriate spatial scale to address multifaceted challenges such as climate change. climate (Barber, 2013). Even if city decision-makers react reluctantly to top-down mitigation and adaptation plans (Reckien et al. 2014), they successfully implement local measures aimed at generating co-benefits and savings arising from climate change mitigation. paper ......al cycles, 15 (4), 891 – 907 (2001)30. Santamouris, M., Cooling Cities – A Review of Reflective and Green Roof Mitigation Technologies to Combat Heat Islands and Improve Comfort in Urban Environments. Solar Energy, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2012.07.003 (2012)31. Jacobson, MZ, Ten Hoeve, J., E., Effects of urban surfaces and white roofs on global and regional climate, Journal of Climate, 25, 1028 – 1044 (2012)32. Georgescu, M., Marefield, PE, Bierwagen, BG, Weaver, CP, Urban adaptation can reverse warming in emerging megapolitan regions, PNAS (2014)33. Baccini, M., Biggeri, A., Accetta, G., Kosatsky, T., Katsouyanni, K., Analitis, A., Anderson, H., R., Bisanti, L., D´Ippoliti, D., Danova, J., Forsberg, B., Medina, S., Paldy, A., Rabczenko, D., Schindler, C., Michelozzi, P., Effects of heat on mortality in 15 European cities, Epidemiology (2008)