Climate change and sustainable urban planning policies: case study, Southeast Queensland, Australia

The phenomena of climate change can be defined as a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods. The impacts of climate change in urban areas can result in the increase of the urban ‘heat island’ effect, heatwaves and colder periods, flooding, intensified storm frequency and storm surge, draught and increased bushfire risk (Gold Coast City Council 2009). Climate change has already affected large urban agglomerations. Unexpected heatwaves in Paris and Moscow, unusual intensity of Hurricane Katrina and the recent super storm Sandy are only a few examples of adverse impacts of climate change. In the European Union and North America urban planning policies and strategies targeting climate change have been introduced at the interstate, state, regional, municipal and local levels. The Australian continent has been regarded as one of the most affected regions of the world in terms of climate change implications. Combating the implications of climate change has been priority policy of every state in Australia. For the past decades Queensland’s economy was largely based on property led development, The recent 2010-2011 Queensland floods of historic proportion, which came after a decade of extreme draught, raised many questions about the future development of cities and urban areas. This paper will discuss the planning instruments at regional, municipal and local neighbourhood levels that address the issues of climate change in the Southeast Queensland Region. They vary from general directions, regional plans and guidelines, city wide planning schemes to local and neighbourhood plans and development codes. Effective enforcement of sustainable planning regulations and design guidelines in new developments is the key to smart growth and creating climate responsive urban environments.

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