Resilient Urban Green Spaces

About the project

Australian cities are increasingly grappling with complex sustainability challenges due to natural disasters and extreme weather events. Urban green spaces (UGS) play a vital role in addressing these challenges and fostering resilient communities. They offer numerous environmental and health benefits, such as flood mitigation, microclimate regulation, cooling effects, and support for residents' mental and physical well-being. As climate change escalates, effective management of these green spaces is essential to enhance their performance and resilience against natural hazards.

We are creating freely available guides for planning, planting, designing, and managing resilient green spaces to reduce the risks of extreme heat, flood, and fire. These guides are designed to support anyone engaged in creating and managing UGS, and help local governments establish targets to improve both existing and new urban green spaces, enhancing community safety, amenity, and overall well-being.

Our goal is to enable a strong, sustainable, and economically viable future for nursery and turf grass industry in Australia and contribute to the Green Cities vision by enhancing strength and adaptability in:

parks
gardens
reserves

bioswales
riparian zones
raingardens

new residential developments
large private green spaces

The landscape context is crucial, and key aspects of designing, engineering, and managing resilience to natural hazards includes: 1) planting design, species selection, vegetation maintenance, and environmental monitoring; and 2) engineered solutions for irrigation water supply, demand control, and drainage. The feasibility of these options will be assessed in both existing urban landscapes and in new planned greenfield development sites.

The research team are creating three best-practice guides on urban green space design, planting, and management to enhance resilience against natural hazards.

A fourth guide, based on simulation modeling, will address design and management for multiple weather events, including any necessary trade-offs.

The guides will be supported by videos, podcasts, and story maps.

Managing resilient urban green spaces in Australian cities is funded through Frontiers, developed by Hort Innovation, with co-investment from Western Sydney University, University of Melbourne, University of New South Wales, Campbelltown City Council, Penrith City Council, Wyndham City, and contributions from the Australian Government.

Managing Resilient Urban Greenspaces

About the project

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to lands, waters and communities on which we live and learn today. We pay our respect to Elders past and present and extend that respect to all First Nations Peoples.