To celebrate Moonee Valley’s diverse urban ecology, the City of Moonee Valley is running the Mayoral Urban Ecology Photo Competition. Entries must be received no later than 5pm Monday, 16 June 2014.
San Francisco has passed groundbreaking legislation to phase out the sale and distribution of plastic bottled water on municipal property. The ordinance applies to events, permitted vendors, and lease holders on San Francisco property, as well as City departments themselves. …
San Francisco legislates to phase out plastic bottled water on City property Read more »
Continuing hot on the heels of the ‘Angry Summer’ of 2012/2013, Australians again endured record breaking extreme events this summer. The new Climate Council 2013/2014 Angry Summer report alerts that many of Australia’s largest population centres stand out as being …
Urban heating further increases extreme summer temperatures. The urban heat island effect is explored in the video Melbourne an ‘urban heat island’. In recognition of the climate buffer and other benefits of urban trees, the City of Melbourne is implementing an …
In the study The Resilience of Cityscapes a research group uses computer modelling to investigates the positive effects of green urban infrastructure like green roofs, living walls and greened permeable pavements. The results showed that all tested green technologies provide …
White and “green” (vegetated) roofs have begun replacing conventional black (dark-colored) roofs to mitigate the adverse effects of dark impervious urban surfaces. The paper Economic comparison of white, green, and black flat roofs in the United States presents an economic …
Economic comparison of white, green, and black flat roofs Read more »
The fifth edition of Your Home – Australia’s guide to environmentally sustainable homes is now available. It has been produced by the Australian Government in partnership with the building and design industry to provide comprehensive, expert and independent advice to …
Fifth edition of Your Home – Australia’s guide to environmentally sustainable homes Read more »
The impacts of human population size on the environment and natural resource consumption have long concerned scientists. Population growth is slowing and even reversing in some places, but this has not translated into reduced human consumption of natural resources and …
Long-term dynamics of household size and their environmental implications Read more »
Classical urban planning, which is clearly evident in Australian cities, uses a central business district (CBD) approach where urban amenities and ease of access to employment fall with the distance from the CBD. The research paper Simulating future societies in …
The Isobenefit Cities approach can deliver a higher and more equal quality of life Read more »
Australia’s multi-billion dollar commercial real estate and property sector is failing to meet even modest sustainability benchmarks, according to new research released by policy network Catalyst Australia. There are four clear leaders in the sector – Stockland, GPT Group, Dexus …