Key points
- Green cover and open spaces are important in towns and cities because they provide health,wellbeingand ecological benefits.Examples of green cover and open spaces include natural and semi-natural areas, such as remnant bushland, parks,gardensand infrastructuresuch as plant walls and green roofs.
- Green cover and open spacesprovidenatural cooling of air and surfaces, and support water management in urban areas.The vegetation used in these areas absorbscarbon dioxide, helping to offset greenhouse gas emissions.
- Climate change is causing more severe and frequent heatwaves, drought,rainfalland storms. Theseextremeweather events affect ourtowns and cities, and impactgreen cover and open spaces, reducing their ability to mitigate against future impacts.
- Increasing the amount of green cover and open spaces can help to combat the effects of climate change. This is achievedby providing natural cooling of air and surfaces, supporting water management in urban areas and capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.This will helptokeep our cities and towns resilient and liveable in the future.
The importance of green cover and open spaces in NSW
Green cover and open spaces are importantaspects of NSWtowns and cities. Theyprovide health,wellbeingand ecological benefits, and help to combat the effects of climate change.
Examples of green cover include remnant bushland, private and community gardens, parks, biodiversity corridors, nature reserves and trails, sporting ovals, street trees and rooftop gardens.
Open spaces include other non-developed areas, such as waterways,foreshoresand sand dunes.
These types of green cover and open spaces are key aspects of ‘green infrastructure’ – the network of green spaces,naturaland semi-natural systems that supports sustainable communities.These areas of green cover and open space help protect us and our built environments against some of the impacts of climate change, such as increased urban heat and natural hazards.
Managing urban heat
The temperaturesin large cities can be 1 °C to 3 °C higher than average rural temperatures. This is known as theurban heat islandeffect, and occurs because buildings, roads and other hard surfaces absorb and storemoreheatcompared to surrounding areas. Climate change is causing temperatures to increase,which will be felt more in our urban areas, due to the urban heat island effect.
Green cover and open spaces help tobalance the temperatures in cities and towns,counteracting urban heat.Trees and other tall vegetation provide shade, and cool and clean the air by evapotranspiration. For some locations, it has been estimated thatevapotranspiration can reduce peak summer temperatures by 5 °C.
Providing buffer zones
Green cover and open spaces act as natural buffersbetween the built environment and natural hazards such as floods.Green cover can be allowed to flood and absorb water (unlike concrete or asphalt).This improves the management of flood and stormwater, especially during heavy rainfall events, which helps to avoid damage tobuiltenvironments. Open spaces and fire-resistant trees and shrubs are important landscape design elements that can help to protect buildingsand urban areasfrom fires.
Other benefits of green cover and open spaces
Green cover and open spaces can also:
- reduce soilerosion
- provide refuge and protection for native, threatened or endangered plants and animals,enhancing biodiversity and wildlife in urbanareas
- improve thecomfort, health and wellbeing of people living in towns andcities
- reduce pollution levels andimprove air quality
- provide space for people to commute, socialise andexercise
- help limit the rate of climate change through vegetation’s ability to absorb and store carbon dioxide.
Howgreen coverand open spacesareaffectedbyclimate changein NSW
Although green cover and open spaces help to combat the effects of climate change, these spaces are stillvulnerable toclimate change itself, just like other parts of our landscapeand society.
Climate change affectshow we maintaingreen cover and open spacesandassociated costs.Urban green spaces needregularmaintenanceand watering toensure theystay healthy and deliver benefitsto people and the environment.Heatwaves,drought,and policies such as water restrictionscan affectplant healthand thepositive benefits of urban green cover and open space. Asvegetationdies,its ability to balance temperatures and fight the urban heat effects diminishes.
Inextreme events such asstorms,highwindsand East Coast Lows,open space and green cover can be affected through fallen trees and limb drop.Rising sea levels and coastal erosion will also put existing parks and open spaces near the ocean at risk.
It is important thatcouncilsand other land managersconsider these issues in management plans to reducerisks to life and property. There arevarious tools that are available to help.
Howgreen cover and open spaces can help us adapt to climate change
Increasing the amount of green cover and open spaces has many benefits in protecting us from the effects of climate change.Protecting local green spacesand creating urban networks of green space can help to minimise the impacts of urban heat in our cities and towns.
Vegetation included in urban design has the added benefit of absorbing and storing carbon dioxide, helping to limit the rate of climate change. Amature tree can absorb up to 150 kg of carbon dioxideeveryyear–planting 12 trees can offsetone year’s worth ofa person’sentirecarbon dioxide emissions.
Governmentpolicies andstrategies such as theSydney Green GridandGreener Places Frameworkare supportingthe establishment ofa network ofgreen cover and open space in our largest city.Delivering a network of open spaces will help keep the city cool, encourage healthy living, enhance biodiversity an ensure ecological resilience.The NSWGovernment is also committed to delivering2 of thePremier’s Prioritiesfor a better environment:
- Greener Public Spaces– where the NSW Government is looking to create green public spaces by increasing the proportion of homes in urban areas within 10 minutes’ walk of quality green, open and public space by 10% by 2023.Incorporating more vegetation and green spaces into urban areas will help balance temperatures and reduce the urban heat island effect.
- Greening Our City– with a goal to increase the tree canopy and green cover across Greater Sydney by planting 1 million trees by 2022. This is part of the broader 5 Million Treesprogramthat aims to plant5 million trees by 2030 and help reach the Greater Sydney Region Plan’s target of 40% canopy for Greater Sydney.
Using green cover and open spacesoffersa way to adapt to climate change that can be applied across many urban settings. However, it is important to ensure thatlocal conditions are properly considered and planned for.
In partnershipwith theClean Air and Urban Landscapes (CAUL) Hub, the NSW Governmenthasdelivered a baseline dataset to assess urban heat and green cover in the Sydney Greater Metropolitan Area. This allows planners and policy makers to assess ways to adapt urban areas to create more liveable cities.
Through CAUL, local decision makers will be able to understand and monitor tree and shrub cover in local government areas. This enables decision makers to look at green cover at the street level in their districts.
The draftpromotessustainable and greener placesto supportthe wellbeing ofNSW communities andthe environment.
Related information
Greener places– Government Architect NSW
Greening our City– NSW Government
Which Plant Where -Future proof urban landscape projects with climate-ready species
