The low regulatory standards for building performance in Australia has created a missed opportunity for sustainable design.
New research by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI)
found a lack of planning instruments, at the neighbourhood level in Australian cities, has led to missed opportunities to improve local communities, environments and energy systems.
The research found plenty of opportunities for sustainable development outcomes, however they are hindered by weak statutory underpinnings and insufficient attention to measurable targets.
The interactions between developers, urban designers and local and state government planners are key to achieving sustainable development outcomes at the neighbourhood scale.
The research found good practice examples of sustainable neighbourhood developments remain niche experiments that often face considerable challenges to being realised.
More sustainable development outcomes could be achieved at both individual building and neighbourhood levels if mandatory targets, sustainability rating tools and design guidelines were introduced.
The research entitled Sustainable housing at a neighbourhood scale was undertaken for AHURI by the University of South Australia and RMIT University.
Many of the planning and development professionals surveyed for the research expressed disappointment at the low regulatory standards for building performance in Australia.
The current requirements are seen to prevent industry innovation and present considerable challenges for local governments trying to negotiate higher standards in planning and development processes.
Lead author of the research, Professor Stefanie Dühr of the University of South Australia, said land use planning at the neighbourhood scale is difficult because because the focus is on individual buildings.
She said a coordinated approach to ‘green’ natural and open spaces and ‘blue’ water infrastructures at a neighbourhood scale could maximise social benefits for residents.
However, because the focus is at the individual building level, those ‘in-between’ public spaces between housing lots are not being given sufficient attention in planning and development processes.
‘The respondents highlighted similar challenges around supporting local electricity production, such as through neighbourhood battery schemes. Generally, we found weak policies and regulations for helping neighbourhood-scale developments be more efficient in their water and energy use or to more fully integrate transport and land use planning.’ Dühr said.
While organisations are aware that planning at the neighbourhood scale will deliver better outcomes there were barriers such as policy frameworks that perpetuate low standards and prevent a more integrated perspective of sustainability.
There is also a lack of sufficient technical expertise among key personnel as well as limited opportunities for professionals to combine their expertise in shaping development outcomes.
The research also analysed 10 case studies of eco-neighbourhoods from Australia and five from Europe to better understand strategies and policy levers.
The case studies highlighted that realising such projects are time-consuming and require strong leadership and dedication to overcoming challenges.
The case studies also showed that success requires significant cross-sector cooperation and that policy frameworks play an important role.
‘Ultimately, although neighbourhoods are much more complex to plan and implement than individual buildings, they are small enough to innovate in public policy, governance and sustainable urban design strategies, while being large enough to deliver important social and ecological benefits for everyone across the city,” Dühr said.
The report can be downloaded from the AHURI website.