Canberra’s Living Infrastructure Plan: Cooling the city
2019 to 2025
This plan helps our city adapt to the effects of climate change. It sets climate goals and targets. But we can't reach these alone. We need help from land owners, builders and the community. Together we can make Canberra more resilient to climate change.
About the plan
Canberra's Living Infrastructure Plan helps our growing city adapt better to the effects of climate change.
We've set 4 policy goals:
- Climate-wise city: Lower the risks from climate change effects through smarter infrastructure.
- Nature in the city: Conserve our biodiversity and landscape function.
- Prosperous city: Recognise that landscapes with living infrastructure create revenue and jobs.
- Healthy city: Promote community-wide health and wellbeing through access to nature.
The plan also establishes targets. By 2045, it aims to provide Canberra’s urban footprint with:
- 30% tree canopy cover or similar (for example, green roofs, shrub beds, wetlands and rain gardens)
- 30% permeable surfaces (for example, grass, gravel and porous paving).
But we can't reach our climate goals alone. We need help from land owners, builders and the community.
Read the summary (PDF 7.3MB) or the full report (PDF 12MB).
Related resources
- Advisory report - Planning controls for living infrastructure and urban heat in the community facility zone [PDF 8.5MB]
- Advisory report - Planning controls for living infrastructure and urban heat in estates and commercial development [PDF 23.6MB]
Why it's important
We live in one of the fastest-growing capitals cities in Australia. We expect more than 600,000 people to call Canberra home by 2050.
Canberra is already feeling the effects of climate change. We're recording higher temperatures and more frequent heatwaves.
We're also seeing the 'urban heat island effect'. This is when roads, footpaths and buildings absorb the sun's heat and radiate it back. This raises both daytime and nighttime temperatures.
This plan aims to help us adapt to the warming climate. Together we can create a sustainable city that is more resilient to climate change.
Acknowledgement of Country
We acknowledge the Ngunnawal people as traditional custodians of the ACT and recognise any other people or families with connection to the lands of the ACT and region. We acknowledge and respect their continuing culture and the contribution they make to the life of this city and this region.