Trees and the shade they provide are one of the best ways of cooling cities. But they also present challenges that are best resolved by managing this shared resource as part of an urban commons.
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Articles on Urban heat
Displaying 21 - 40 of 43 articles
The world’s fastest-growing cities are in the tropics. They are highly exposed to climate change, especially as urban heat island effects and humidity magnify the impacts of increasing heatwaves.
The research has been done. The evidence is in. We know how to create cities that are sustainable, liveable and affordable. But we have yet to apply that knowledge widely across Australian cities.
Thirty tree species make up more than half of Australia’s urban forests. Some won’t survive climate change, so cities must plant a more diverse mix of the right species to preserve their tree cover.
Good urban design and walkability boost local economic activity by increasing public activity, but cities need to pay more attention to the effects of microclimates on streets and public spaces.
Not all of the solutions to the climate and ecological crisis have to be painful.
Two trends in Australia, an ageing population and warming climate, are increasing the threat that heatwaves pose to our health. Increasing vegetation cover is one way every city can reduce the risk.
Darwin’s climate is getting even hotter and it’s one of the main reasons people leave the city. A lot more can be done, though, to make our tropical cities safe, cool and enjoyable.
Faced with a drought, it’s tempting for cities to reduce the amount of space that needs water. But this is not a good idea.
How to move beyond the warm words about tackling urban heat islands to doing something about them.
Behind the built-up glitz of Surfers Paradise lies a deep history that has been written and overwritten in successive layers that have become thinner and thinner as time goes on.
Commonly used surfaces in play areas, such as “soft fall” materials and Astroturf, can heat up to 80-100°C in the sun. This makes them a hazardous design choice, especially as the climate gets hotter.
Australians are losing the backyards that once served as retreats from the stresses of city living. Our health is likely to suffer as cities become less green and much hotter.
Extreme heat divides people from the environment and from each other. So with the rapid densification of our cities, what kind of legacies are we building for future generations?
Greening cities that are becoming denser is a major challenge. City-dwellers’ health benefits from both well-designed green spaces and urban density, so we must manage the tensions between them.
Do you ever feel that the weather is worse on the weekend? Well you might be right!
Recently published research has found that the concentration of poorer people in hotter places is a real problem for cities’ capacity to cope with climate change.
The rhetoric of ‘smart cities’ is dominated by the economic, with little reference to the natural world and its plight. Truly smart and resilient cities need to be more in tune with the planet.
Hot spots occur at the scale of where people live – the building, the street, the block – which means urban design and building materials have profound implications for our health and well-being.
Achieving green cities will require more than just canopy cover targets and central city strategies. It will need new approaches to urban planning and development.
Top contributors
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Associate Professor, Design Studies, Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building, University of Technology Sydney
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Senior Lecturer in Urban and Environmental Planning, Griffith University
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Professor of Human Geography and Planning, University of Tasmania
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Associate Professor, Human Geography and Urban Studies School of Social Sciences/ Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University
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Professor, School of Design, University of Technology Sydney
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Associate Professor of Economics, Australia Director - Centre for International Trade and Business in Asia (CITBA), James Cook University
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Associate Director Smart Green Cities, Macquarie University
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Lecturer in Landscape Architecture, The University of Melbourne
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Lecturer and Researcher, Urban Design and Town Planning, University of the Sunshine Coast
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Distinguished Professor, Director of Smart Green Cities, Macquarie University
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Research Officer, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University
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Assistant Professor of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis
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Associate Professor, Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University
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Professor of Urban Management and Planning, Western Sydney University
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Senior Research Fellow, Healthy Liveable Cities Group, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University, RMIT University
