Sustainability in urban development refers to the practices and policies that allow a city to meet its current needs, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This includes environmental, economic and social sustainability. With climate change and rapid urbanisation, building sustainable cities has become crucial.
Importance of Sustainability for Cities
Sustainability is vital for cities in Australia to reduce their carbon footprints, use resources efficiently, manage waste properly and provide a high quality of life to residents. Some key reasons why urban sustainability matters:
- Mitigating Climate Change Effects: Sustainable cities implement renewable energy, public transport, green buildings etc. to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate change. This also makes them resilient to impacts like heatwaves, droughts and storms.
- Efficient Resource Use: Well-planned dense cities consume less water, electricity and land per capita through measures like water recycling, energy conservation and compact development.
- Livability and Health: Sustainability measures like public parks, clean energy transport and mixed land use ensure cleaner air, greenery and active living options for community health.
- Economic Productivity: Sustainable cities tend to attract talents, businesses and investments as people prefer living in green, innovative and future-thinking hubs. This drives economic growth.
1. Sydney
Sydney aims to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 across all sectors under its Sustainable Sydney 2030 strategy. Specific initiatives include:
- Sourcing 25% of electricity from renewables currently and increasing this share through large-scale solar and wind farms.
- Implementing energy efficiency measures in commercial and residential buildings through green building regulations and retrofitting programs. Over 500,000 sqm of green roofs and walls are already installed across the city.
- Expanding public transport like metro and light rails, cycling infrastructure, electric vehicle charging stations and use of biofuels to reach the net zero transport emissions goal.
- Increasing tree canopy cover, green spaces and water sensitive urban design through nature-based solutions to enhance resilience.
- One Central Park in Sydney is considered one of Australia's most sustainable buildings with vertical gardens, solar PV systems, recycled water use and high energy efficiency.
2. Perth
Perth aims to become a sustainable, resilient and future-ready city through multiple initiatives under frameworks like the Environmental Sustainability Strategy 2017-2021. These include:
- Transitioning to renewable energy sources like solar, purchasing renewable power for council facilities, and rolling out energy efficiency measures to reach net zero emissions by 2030.
- Expanding public transport access and cycling networks for sustainable mobility while managing urban sprawl through transit oriented development.
- Using water sensitive urban design in new precinct developments along with alternative water source usage, irrigation management and promoting water conservation.
- Protecting and enhancing biodiversity through urban forests, green infrastructure networks and ecological restoration of wetlands.
3. Melbourne
As part of its Climate Change Mitigation Strategy, Melbourne has set goals to achieve net zero emissions, use 100% renewable electricity and build only net zero emission buildings by 2050. Key initiatives involve:
- Increasing the use of renewable energy, incentivizing distributed solar PV systems, and improving energy efficiency across industry, commercial and residential buildings.
- Expanding sustainable transport modes like the tram network, metro tunnels, dedicated cycling corridors and adopting EV fleets and biofuels to decarbonize the mobility sector.
- Implementing Integrated Water Management practices including stormwater harvesting, water recycling and efficient irrigation to enhance water security despite changing climate and growing population pressure.
- Expanding green urban infrastructure like rooftop/vertical gardens, tree canopies and rain gardens through policy measures, investments and community stewardship programs.
4. Brisbane
Brisbane aims to become carbon neutral by 2050 through its Climate Action Plan 2020-2023 which involves taking actions like:
- Transitioning to renewable sources for electricity needs with targets to source 70% of council's electricity from renewables by 2030.
- Expanding sustainable transport infrastructure for public transit, walking, cycling along with transitioning to EV fleet and biogas fuelled buses to reduce emissions.
- Constructing buildings to green star standards, implementing Cool/Green Roofs program and running energy/water efficiency education to create climate responsive infrastructure.
- Collaborating with the community to expand green corridors and planting programs to enhance ecological connectivity, forest cover and flood resilience across neighbourhoods.
In summary, Australian cities are implementing various emissions reduction, renewable energy, transport innovations, green spaces and sustainable building initiatives to emerge as environmentally sustainable hubs.
A sustainable city aims to promote economic growth, enhance quality of life and protect the environment while meeting the needs of current and future generations of urban residents. The key pillars of an urban sustainability approach involve:
Environmental Sustainability: This entails effective management of resources, pollution control and conservation of green spaces and biodiversity through measures like:
- Renewable energy usage, energy and water efficient infrastructure
- Sustainable waste management and transport solutions
- Expanding parks, gardens, urban forests and ecological restoration
- Air and water quality monitoring and improvement programs
Economic Sustainability: This focuses on resilient economic growth and employment opportunities created through practices such as:
- Supporting green industries, sustainable businesses and eco-innovation
- Investing in climate change adaptation and future-oriented infrastructure
- Promoting technology and knowledge-based sectors to attract investment
- High broadband connectivity and digital governance models
Social Sustainability: This aims to improve quality of life and social equity through initiatives like:
- Affordable housing, healthcare, education and public services
- Community engagement programs and spaces
- Focus on active living, culture, inclusion and community health outcomes
- Disaster preparedness and response capabilities
By integrating environmental, economic and social sustainability pillars, cities can transition towards sustainable development meeting current needs while safeguarding resources and opportunities for future generations. Models already exist in cities implementing renewable energy systems, energy efficient building standards, green transport etc. demonstrating viable pathways.
How is Sustainability of a City Measured?
There are several methodologies and ranking systems to assess how sustainable a city is based on key environmental, economic and social indicators. Some major sustainability measurement tools include:
- Environmental Performance Index (EPI): Developed by Yale and Columbia Universities, the EPI uses 32 indicators across 11 categories covering environmental health and ecosystem vitality to rank 180 countries on sustainability parameters. This allows benchmarking cities on metrics like air quality, sanitation, ecosystem services etc.
- Global Sustainable Competitiveness Index: This index evaluates and compares over 120 countries and 150 cities across 5 key domains - natural capital, intellectual capital, governance capital, human capital and resource stewardship to determine most competitive and sustainable urban hubs.
- City-Specific Sustainability Frameworks: Many cities develop customised measurement tools tailored to local context tracking indicators like greenhouse gas emissions, water usage, renewable energy share, green space, sustainable transportation usage and waste generation over time. These localised metrics help monitor progress annually.
- ISO Standard for Sustainable Cities: The ISO 37123 series provides sustainable development indicators and methodologies to help cities evaluate and measure performance across areas like economics, education, safety, recreation, environment, governance, health, housing, solid waste, telecommunications, transport, water, sanitation etc.
- CDP Cities Reporting Framework: Over 900 cities globally disclose environmental data year on year through CDP on metrics covering climate risks, water security risks and opportunities, renewable energy usage and solid waste management to benchmark sustainable urban development.
Through the growing focus on standardised sustainability indicators and measurement frameworks, cities can now clearly track areas of strength, validate policies over time and compare progress with national commitments or global peers on the sustainability path.
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