Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Over 90
per cent of Australia's population lives in a city or major regional
centre. Nearly 70
per cent of Australians live in just six major cities and the
population of these urban centres is increasing at a faster rate than the overall
population (ABS, 2008). The preference for coastal living means that 83
per
cent of the population lives within 50km of the coast and between 160,000 and
250,000 existing properties are at risk of coastal flooding with a sea level rise of
1.1m (Australian Government, 2009). With such high levels of urbanization
and concentration of population into a handful of urban centres, the impacts of
climate change on Australian cities is receiving closer attention.
The impacts on Australian cities will be both direct and indirect. As
Chapter 9
has indicated, human health impacts from greater air pollution, heat stress, and
an increase in heat-related violence will follow from heatwave events. There
will also be major social and business disruption and economic loss as a result
of the energy and transport infrastructure failures associated with extreme hot
weather. Sea level rise will lead to an increase in the frequency of coastal erosion
and inundation with attendant impacts on private and public infrastructure and
assets. More intense rainfall and storm events will cause property damage from
flooding, wind damage and hail, as well as risks to human life and health. Drying
conditions will create profound water supply challenges for many urban centres,
affecting the quality and quantity of water for domestic and industrial uses, as
well as public sporting and recreational assets. These examples serve only to
illustrate the numerous complex interactions between climate change effects
and their manifestation in an urban context and to highlight the need for urban
planners and managers to account for these events in their land use, building,
public health, infrastructure and asset management and other strategies.
This chapter examines the way in which land use planning in Australia is
accounting for the impacts of climate change and the implications of our urban
populations, as at 2012. Section two examines the different planning responses
to three types of climate change impact - sea level rise and coastal hazards,
bushfire conditions and heatwave. It also discusses progress on adaptation
planning in Australia's six largest cities. Section three recognizes the limita-
tions of new planning measures for existing urban centres and the likelihood
of future climate- or weather-related disasters. It outlines key features of recent
responses to natural disasters. Section four considers some of the key barriers
to enhanced adaptation planning in urban Australia and how they can be
addressed.
Planning for impacts
The impacts of climate change in urban centres is a function of the physical
effects of higher temperatures, rising sea levels and extreme weather; the
location, design and construction of our cities and built environments; under-
lying population health; governance arrangements and social practices, norms,
and attitudes. Land use planning is widely regarded as the critical mechanism
by which to prevent exposure to climate change impacts in Australian cities
