The past few years has seen growing realisation of the benefits and necessity of urban green space as a community asset across all corners of Australia. This has seen several councils develop (or currently developing) strategies to manage, plan and increase urban green space assets that incorporate green roofs, green walls and urban forests on both public and private land. For example, in September 2013, the City of Darebin released a draft Urban Forest Strategy, which has set a target of increasing the tree canopy cover percentage within public lands to at least 25% within the next 15 years. Other councils have also pledged to increase canopy cover in the years ahead with City of Sydney aiming to increase the average total tree canopy cover to 23.25% by 2030, and then to 27.13% by 2050, while the City of Melbourne aim to increase public realm canopy cover to 40% by 2040.
These councils have been supported in their efforts to manage, plan and increase urban green space by a growing amount of academic research which highlights the benefits of urban green space. In January 2014, researchers from Curtin University’s School of Public Health reported the removal of tree canopy as part of urban infill in Perth may worsen health problems arising from the urban heat island effect, where cities warm due to storage of solar radiation within concrete, asphalt, and buildings coupled with a lack of shade and green space. These researchers infer that replanting and retaining trees in the urban environment needs to be backed by specific policies and plans with strong community and cross-sector support. They further recommend that support for tree canopy management strategies to be developed at a local government level.
During 2013, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) modelled the relationship between vegetation and mortality during extreme heat in relation to predicted future warming and reported the overall trend in their data showed that urban vegetation can potentially reduce excess heat related mortality. These researchers predicted between a 60 to 100% reduction in excess mortality rate depending on the degree of vegetation coverage, and recommended that urban vegetation be a key component in heat wave mitigation and for preventative health. In the State of Australian Cities 2013 Report, it was noted that many cities are making significant progress in introducing areas of green spaces at various scales across cities – from buildings to districts and metropolitan regions – to reduce the urban heat island effect and thereby increase liveability.
From the above discussion, it is evident that significant opportunity exists for professionals working in the urban green space arena to share information and work collaboratively together. An example of this is the Greening the West initiative for communities in the western suburbs of Melbourne that aims to deliver positive health and social outcomes and enhanced liveability in this region. Greening the West take a regional approach in fostering projects and activities that deliver increased vegetation and public use of quality green space. In 2013 they releases a strategic plan which details eight goals and several targets which include doubling tree canopy cover in the west by 2050 and an increase in greenspace by 25% by 2030. Greening the West is focused on the six western metropolitan municipalities of Melbourne – Brimbank, Hobsons Bay, Maribyrnong, Melton, Moonee Valley and Wyndham, and is driven by a steering committee consisting of many committed partners including City West Water, Parks Victoria, Melbourne Water, VicRoads as well all the councils representing the aforementioned municipalities.
Another recent example of urban green space collaboration is the National Urban Forest Alliance (NUFA). This group banded together after an initial project run by the Melbourne Urban Forest Accord Group to value urban trees which created an opportunity for further advocacy and research work. Alliance partners represent a vast array of stakeholders and are united to take the lead in urban forest issues in Australia. Current partners include Nursery & Garden Industry Australia, Arboriculture Australia, ENSPEC Pty Ltd, Parramatta City Council NSW and City of Darwin.
Since the inception of NUFA in 2012, the collaboration has been extremely proactive and was instrumental in the introduction of several resources such as the i-tree Eco tool. This urban forest valuation tool was built by the Forestry Service in the United States and has been adapted for use in Australia. The i-tree Eco tool allows users to put a dollar value on certain environmental benefits of trees: air pollution amelioration, carbon storage and sequestration, energy saving benefits and amenity values. NUFA is currently finalising a Strategic Direction Statement for release later in 2014 that will outline how they plan to effect positive change at governmental levels in planning, policy and implementation, at developer levels and also in the private realm.
On 7 November 2013, a national collaborative project the ‘202020 Vision’ was launched in Sydney which brought together government, academic and private sectors with a common goal to increase urban green space by 20 percent by 2020. The launch was held at Tthe Goods Line – a disused rail line which runs between Broadway and the Powerhouse Museum in Darling Harbour in Sydney to a captive audience of over 100 attendees. The 202020 Vision is funded by the Nursery & Garden Industry Australia and will provide a collaborative platform of information and facilitate the exchange of ideas between key communities in order to understand, recognise and establish urban green space co-benefits. A large network of over 90 partners across government, community and business sectors have already pledged their support to the 202020 Vision including BUPA, Brookfield Multiplex and the Green Building Council of Australia, as well as several councils. As the 202020 Vision matures it is expected that the partners and projects will continue to grow. It is anticipated that many more will jump on board as the 202020 Vision matures.
Collaboration will be the key to ensure the benefits of green space are heard across all corners of Australia. Initiatives such as the 202020 Vision will enable governments, developers and communities to increase green space to ensure healthy, resilient and sustainable communities for all Australians to enjoy. For more information please visit www.202020vision.com.au
Dr Anthony Kachenko, Research and Market Development Manager and 202020 Vision Advocate, Nursery & Garden Industry Australia
