Estimating the benefits of using open green space to cool our cities
Background
Green open spaces can play a significant role in cooling cities. Shade and evapotranspiration from vegetation create cooler microclimates. Green spaces also provide other benefits like flood management, recreation and amenity benefits, biodiversity and cleaner air.
Estimating the value of these cooling benefits hinges on 2 questions:
- How much cooling can reasonably be expected of parks of different sizes?
- How far does this cooling extend beyond the park boundaries?
A recent rapid review by Alluvium Consulting and Water Sensitive Cities Australia draws together evidence from Southern Australia and tropical cities in Asia to help answer these questions.
A fact sheet provides details about the review, identifies the benefits, outlines the limitations and lists all the papers included in the review.
The CRCWSC has produced research, guidelines and
tools related to the following topics:
Integrated Urban Flood
Management
Climate change
mitigation
Community
engagement
Economics and
business case