The role of urban planning and design in responding to climate change: the Brisbane experience

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss the responses from the urban planning and design professions in Brisbane to the impacts of climate change and the implications of the 2011 flood. In the past decade, the ramifications of climate change have already left a scar on some of the urban regions round the world. The Australian continent has been regarded as one of the most affected regions in terms of climate change implications. The 2011 Queensland floods of historic proportion, which came after a decade of extreme drought, raised many questions about the future development of cities. For the past decades, Queensland's economy was largely based on property-led development. The flood plain land situated along Brisbane River has been developed and overburdened with building infrastructure contributing to the magnification of the flood events. Design/methodology/approach: The research methodology is based on identification of the problem and the major objective. To address the objective, this study concentrated mainly on the use of qualitative research methods. The major qualitative research methods include literature review, qualitative analysis and observations. Brisbane, the capital of the Australian state of Queensland, has been selected as the case study area. Findings: The paper revealed strong regional and city-wide planning directives addressing climate change which has not yet been fully been translated at the local-neighbourhood level. Originality/value: This paper provides a deep insight analysis and evaluation of the design and planning measures currently used to combat the impacts of climate change.

Urban Planning and Green Infrastructure Under a Changing Climate in Africa

“…The objective is to simplify and organize policy choices and actions that might change the physical and social environment and impact the allocation of resources and activities (Anguluri & Narayanan, 2017). Additionally, it facilitates the progressive growth of a city in an environmentally conscious way and promotes equal participation of all individuals (Kozlowski & Yusof, 2016). Urban regions in several African cities are seeing significant expansion, prompting the development of particular strategies to include these communities in urban planning (Culwick et al, 2016).…”

Planning Opportunities for Climate Resilience in Brisbane, Australia: Learning From the City’s History of Floods

“…The El Niño-Southern Oscillation, coupled with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation produces unusual levels of climatic uncertainty and high frequency of extreme events as flooding, droughts, cyclones, storms and bushfires [18]. In addition, Queensland is believed to be the Australian state with the highest vulnerability to climate change [19], where even more common extreme-weather events, higher climatic variability, and accelerated sea level rise are predicted. In general, for SEQ, climate change is expected to intensify and extend the periods of drought, interspersed with more extreme episodes of rain and consequent flooding [8].…”

“…In 1824, the European settlement of the Brisbane river catchment began and a stable settlement was established around the present-day Brisbane CBD [21], [26], high above the river in order to avoid it being washed away by floods [19]. Soon after, Brisbane was declared port of entry.…”

“…Since then it has seen increasing populations in a continuous migratory influx, with some distinct waves, first in the 1880s, then in the post-war decades of the twentieth century [21]. The latest has been the recent interstate migration, rendering SEQ Australia´s most rapidly growing region [19]. In the first decades after the foundation of the city, vulnerable low-lying areas were occupied by worker cottages while wealthier families built their houses on the overlooking hills, safe from floods and with better climatic conditions [21].…”

Climate sensitive urban design: a comparison between Brisbane (Australia) and Nagpur (India)

“…Path dependence is applicable across so many disciplines because it does seem to offer a logical explanation as to why and how present decisions can be influenced by past, historical events (Booth, 2011). Brisbane specific research on climate sensitive urban design include research by Kozlowski and Yusof (2016). Research has also been carried out for Brisbane in other related subject area of water sensitive urban design.…”