An Overview of Water Sensitive Urban Design Practices in Australia

Ecologically Sustainable Development in Australia can be described as going beyond the protection of the environment from the impacts of pollution, to protecting and conserving natural resources. In an urban environmental context this means urban development (both greenfield development and urban renewal) that seeks to have no long term effects on various aspects of the environment related to aspects such as greenhouse gas levels, material resources, biodiversity and ambient water environments. Water environments, such as waterways and coastal waters, and water supply catchments are key areas where urban development can have significant impacts. Water Sensitive Urban Design in Australia has evolved from its early association with stormwater management to provide a broader framework for sustainable urban water management. It provides a common and unified method for integrating the interactions between the urban built form (including urban landscapes) and the urban water cycle. This paper presents an overview of current industry practice and research implementation of Water Sensitive Urban Design in Australia.

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Implementation impediments to institutionalising the practice of sustainable urban water management

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.2006.585 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 54 (6-7) ◽

pp. 415-422 ◽

Cited By ~ 33

Author(s):

R.R. Brown ◽

L. Sharp ◽

R.M. Ashley

Keyword(s):

Water Management ◽

Water Cycle ◽

Technical Solution ◽

Urban Water ◽

Urban Water Management ◽

Narrow Scope ◽

Sustainable Urban Water Management ◽

Different Dimensions ◽

The Uk ◽

Management Issues

It is now well accepted that there are significant challenges to realising the widespread and self-sustaining implementation of sustainable urban water management. It is argued that these challenges are entrenched within the broader socio-political framework, yet often unsuccessfully addressed within the more narrow scope of improving technical knowledge and design capacity. This hypothesis is investigated through a comparative analysis of three independent research projects investigating different dimensions of the water cycle, including stormwater management in Australia and sanitary waste management and implementation of innovative technologies in the UK. The analysis reveals significant and common socio-political impediments to improved practice. It was evident that the administrative regime, including implementing professionals and institutions, appears to be largely driven by an implicit expectation that there is a technical solution to solve water management issues. This is in contrast to addressing the issues through broader strategies such as political leadership, institutional reform and social change. It is recognised that this technocratic culture is inadvertently underpinned by the need to demonstrate implementation success within short-term political cycles that conflict with both urban renewal and ecological cycles. Addressing this dilemma demands dedicated socio-technical research programs to enable the much needed shift towards a more sustainable regime.

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Hedonic Pricing to Monetize Ecosystem Services Provided by Water Sensitive Urban Design: A Comparison of Geelong, Australia and Singapore

Nakhara : Journal of Environmental Design and Planning ◽

10.54028/nj2020195978 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 19 ◽

pp. 59-78

Author(s):

Kim Irvine ◽

Bing Han Choy ◽

Lloyd HC Chua ◽

Jarrod Gaut ◽

Huu Loc Ho ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Water Management ◽

Ecosystem Services ◽

Urban Design ◽

Inverse Relationship ◽

Hedonic Pricing ◽

Urban Water ◽

Urban Water Management ◽

Sale Price ◽

Water Sensitive Urban Design

Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) features increasingly are used for urban water management, green urban design, and improved community liveability, but relatively less data are available on the ecosystem services that WSUD provides. We used hedonic pricing, supported by qualitative surveys, in Geelong, Australia and Singapore, to evaluate benefits related to large WSUD features. For both locations there was a significant (α=0.05) inverse relationship between sale price of a residence and distance to the WSUD features. Qualitative surveys corroborated the hedonic pricing analysis, as a majority of people appreciated benefits accrued from living near WSUD features.

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Emerging approaches to integrated urban water management: cluster scale application

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.2005.0347 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 51 (10) ◽

pp. 21-27 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

J. Hunt ◽

M. Anda ◽

K. Mathew ◽

G. Ho ◽

G. Priest

Keyword(s):

Water Management ◽

Water Cycle ◽

Full Potential ◽

Urban Water ◽

Total Water ◽

Urban Water Management ◽

Integrated Urban Water Management ◽

Unit Scale ◽

Water Sensitive Urban Design ◽

Environmental Technologies

Integrated Urban Water Management (IUWM) seeks to extend Water Sensitive Urban Design to a total water cycle approach that includes reuse of wastewaters. This paper investigates the appropriateness of environmental technologies for application at a cluster scale in IUWM. Many environmental technologies are economically or physically unsuited to use on a municipal or unit scale. Cluster scale is a middle ground that will allow such environmental technologies to achieve full potential. The concept of cluster scale and the application of environmental technologies at this scale are discussed along with some examples of suitable technologies.

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Urban forest management in Melbourne city based on “Water-Sensitive Urban Design: Urban design considering the water cycle”

Journal of the Japanese Society of Revegetation Technology ◽

10.7211/jjsrt.42.455 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 42 (3) ◽

pp. 455-459

Author(s):

Kana HOTTA ◽

Ayumi SHIRAKI ◽

Hiroaki ISHII

Keyword(s):

Forest Management ◽

Urban Design ◽

Urban Forest ◽

Water Cycle ◽

Water Sensitive Urban Design ◽

Urban Forest Management

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“Reduction in water consumption and environmental improvements inBarcelona through WSUDs (Water Sensitive Urban Design Systems”

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-7681 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Mar Pérez Cambra ◽

Dolors Martínez Santafé ◽

Josep Roca Cladera

Keyword(s):

Urban Design ◽

Water Consumption ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Water Cycle ◽

Land Policy ◽

Water Sensitive Urban Design ◽

Rainwater Runoff ◽

Design Systems ◽

Technical University ◽

E Mail

P&#201;REZ CAMBRA, Mar&#237;a del Mar Technical University of Catalonia (UPC) Barcelona School of Architecture Department of Architectural Technology I (TA), Centre of Land Policy and Valuations (CPSV) Assistant Professor, Ph.D. Candidate. Av. Diagonal 649, 08028, Barcelona, Spain Orcid : 0000-0003-2456-3302 E-mail: [email protected] Telephone: +34 934012576 Dr. MART&#205;NEZ SANTAF&#201;, Dolors Technical University of Catalonia (UPC) Barcelona School of Architecture Department of Architectural Technology I (TA), Centre of Land Policy and Valuations (CPSV) Professor Av. Diagonal 649, 08028, Barcelona, Spain Orcid : 0000-0001-8200-183X E-mail: [email protected] Telephone: +34 934016378 Dr.ROCA CLADERA, Josep Technical University of Catalonia (UPC) Department of Architectural Technology I(TA), Centre of Land Policy and Valuations (CPSV) Full Professor Av. Diagonal 649, 08028, Barcelona, Spain. Orcid : 0000-0003-3970-6505 E-mail: [email protected] Telephone: +34 934016396 Key words: WSUDs; thermal behavior; water &#8220;Reduction in water consumption and environmental improvements in Barcelona through WSUDs (Water Sensitive Urban Design Systems&#8221; The aim of this communication is showing the research done during the last years to try to reduce water consumption in Barcelona with the WSUDs (Water Urban Design Systems) while reducing surface temperatures with the chosen WSUDs and reducing rainwater runoff especially in the flood areas of the city. Water sensitive urban design (WSUD) have been chosen in this research as an approach to planning and designing urban areas of Barcelona as a resource to reduce the damage urban areas cause to water cycle when we change natural pervious surfaces into impervious ones. Thus, while recuperating in some areas water cycle we can reduce rainwater runoff. This same WSUDs used to reduce rainwater runoff can not only infiltrate and transport water but also to harvest it where it can be more efficient. Water harvesting and reducing he rainwater runoff in a floods area calculations for an area as an example will be shown in this communication. This descentralization of the water treatment will save energy by saving the transportation a long distance away to the water sewage treatment plants. It also avoids diffuse pollution of the runoff since water quality is not worsed due to its transportation to the depuration plant. On the other hand, since we have climate change not all the materials and construction systems are the proper ones. This part is mainly experimental and has taken almost three years measuring surfaces temperatures of some WSUDs of Barcelona and treating its data to stablish a criteria to choose WSUDs which can help to reduce surface temperatures, even in some cases, underneath the environmental temperatures. It means we can produce a better thermal effect while planning and implementing the WSUDs in this case in Barcelona and in homoclimatic cities. Therefore, with this WSUDs specific urbanistic micro-acupuncture we can improve some effects of climatic change such as: water scarcity, floods and heat island effect. This communication will focus and deep on it.

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Determining water sensitive urban design project benefits using a multi-criteria assessment tool

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.2010.045 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 61 (9) ◽

pp. 2333-2341 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

M. Urrutiaguer ◽

S. Lloyd ◽

S. Lamshed

Keyword(s):

Urban Design ◽

Local Governments ◽

Assessment Tool ◽

Water Cycle ◽

Action Plan ◽

Urban Stormwater ◽

Environmental Engagement ◽

Urban Planning And Design ◽

Government Capacity ◽

Water Sensitive Urban Design

The integration of urban water cycle management with urban planning and design is referred to as ‘Water Sensitive Urban Design’ or ‘WSUD’ in Australia; one of the key elements of WSUD is the management of urban stormwater. In early 2006, the Victorian Government released the Yarra River Action Plan, which allocated $20 million towards tackling urban stormwater pollution. To help ensure this money is allocated in an equitable and transparent manner across all metropolitan local governments a multi-criteria assessment tool has been developed. This paper presents an overview of the multi-criteria assessment tool developed and adopted for selecting WSUD projects that are eligible for funding through Melbourne Water's Stormwater Program. This tool considers three types of indicators: environmental, engagement (engagement with stakeholders and local government capacity building) and financial. Within each category, a series of indicators of different weightings are applied to score a project. Where initial concept designs do not meet the Program criteria, additional work is undertaken to refine and improve the project. The tool and its use are illustrated with a case study.

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Impediments and constraints in the uptake of water sensitive urban design measures in greenfield and infill developments

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.2012.858 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 65 (2) ◽

pp. 340-352 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

Ashok K. Sharma ◽

Stephen Cook ◽

Grace Tjandraatmadja ◽

Alan Gregory

Keyword(s):

Urban Development ◽

Urban Design ◽

Source Control ◽

The Social ◽

Management Concepts ◽

Extensive Consultation ◽

Water Sensitive Urban Design ◽

Fit For Purpose ◽

Alternative Sources

Water sensitive urban developments are designed with integrated urban water management concepts and water sensitive urban design measures. The initiatives that may be included are the substitution of imported drinking water with alternative sources using a fit-for-purpose approach and structural and non-structural measures for the source control of stormwater. A water sensitive approach to urban development can help in achieving sustainability objectives by minimising disturbance to ecological and hydrological processes, and also relieve stress on conventional water systems. Water sensitive urban developments remain novel in comparison with conventional approaches, so the understanding and knowledge of the systems in regards to their planning; design; implementation; operation and maintenance; health impacts and environmental impacts is still developing and thus the mainstream uptake of these approaches faces many challenges. A study has been conducted to understand these challenges through a detailed literature review, investigating a large number of local greenfield and infill developments, and conducting extensive consultation with water professionals. This research has identified the social, economic, political, institutional and technological challenges faced in implementing water sensitive urban design in greenfield and infill developments. The research found in particular that there is the need for long-term monitoring studies of water sensitive urban developments. This monitoring is important to validate the performance of novel approaches implemented and improve associated guidelines, standards, and regulatory and governance frameworks, which can lead to mainstream acceptance of water sensitive urban development approaches. The dissemination of this research will help generate awareness among water professionals, water utilities, developers, planners and regulators of the research challenges to be addressed in order to achieve more mainstream acceptance of water sensitive approaches to urban development. This study is based on existing water sensitive urban developments in Australia, however, the methodology adopted in investigating impediments to the uptake of these developments can be applied globally. It is hoped that insights from this study will benefit water professionals in other countries where there is also a move towards water sensitive urban development.

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Towards sustainable sanitation – the HAMBURG WATER Cycle in the settlement Jenfelder Au

Water Science & Technology Water Supply ◽

10.2166/ws.2013.158 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

pp. 13-21 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Kim Augustin ◽

Anne-Katrin Skambraks ◽

Zhiqiang Li ◽

Thomas Giese ◽

Ulf Rakelmann ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Urban Design ◽

Energy Production ◽

Green Space ◽

Water Cycle ◽

Residential Area ◽

Source Control ◽

Wastewater Management ◽

Urban Water ◽

Vacuum Technology ◽

Integrated Concept

One of the largest urban development projects at present in Hamburg is the conversion of former military barracks into a new residential area for about 630 households, called Jenfelder Au. The urban design concept for this 35 ha area follows a high quality approach to develop a carbon-neutral, attractive neighbourhood for approx. 2,000 inhabitants abundant with green space and urban water. HAMBURG WASSER, Hamburg's water supply and wastewater utility, is rethinking the way of wastewater management by implementing an integrated concept for decentralised wastewater treatment and energy production – the so-called HAMBURG WATER Cycle® (HWC) – in this new residential area, based on source control of wastewater. Stormwater, greywater and blackwater are collected separately and then treated separately on site in Jenfelder Au. The realisation of the HWC will be the hitherto largest demonstration of a resource oriented sanitation concept working with vacuum technology for the collection of concentrated blackwater. This concept intends to establish synergy between wastewater management, waste management and energy production, and contributes to an improved local natural water cycle.

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A cost-sustainability analysis of urban water management

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.1999.0241 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 39 (5) ◽

pp. 211-218 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

J. Icke ◽

R. M. van den Boomen ◽

R. H. Aalderink

Keyword(s):

Water Management ◽

Water Cycle ◽

Early Stage ◽

Town Planning ◽

Urban Water ◽

Urban Water Management ◽

Management Options ◽

Sustainable Urban Water Management ◽

Wide Range ◽

Urban Water Cycle

A simple model for the urban water cycle is presented, based on mass balances for water and phosphorus. This model is used for the evaluation of the sustainability rate of the urban water cycle. This type of model is to be used in an early stage of town planning, to compare several possible measures. In general, contributing to achieving a more sustainable urban water management. A sensitivity analysis was performed to rank the management options and additional measures to their contribution to the sustainability rate of the urban water cycle. A module for the calculation of cost was linked to the model, revealing the relation between cost and the sustainability rate for a wide range of scenarios. The results show that an improved separated sewer system and the use of a local ground water source have the biggest impact on the sustainability rate. A slightly positive correlation between investment cost and the sustainability rate was found as well.

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