Australian cities are increasingly grappling with complex challenges due to the climate-driven increase in the frequency and intensity of natural disasters and extreme weather events. Urban green spaces (UGS) play a vital role in buffering the impacts of these challenges and providing resilience for local 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 global warming intensifies, effective management of these green spaces is essential to enhance their capacity to withstand the increasing pressures from natural hazards.
We have created 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 and inspire anyone engaged in creating and managing UGS.
Landscape context is crucial, and key aspects of designing, engineering, and managing resilience to natural hazards includes:
- planting design, species selection, vegetation maintenance, and environmental monitoring; and
- engineered solutions for irrigation water supply, demand control, and drainage.
Download our guides via the links below. The fourth guide looks at multi-hazard mitigation and will be published here soon.
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.
