Posted 27 May 2014 - 1:35pm
A resounding message from a recent workshop of Sydney stakeholders brought together to visualise the city’s low carbon, urban design and resources future, is that de-centralised and more socially engaged precincts where people actively participate in government, will create better energy efficiency, self sufficiency and sustainability.
The Sydney workshop was the second in a series of national workshops being held as part of the CRC for Low Carbon Living Visions and Pathways 2040 Project. The first was held in Melbourne in April.
Project Leader and Director of the Victorian Eco-innovation Lab (VEIL), Professor Chris Ryan said one of the most surprising outcomes of the Sydney workshop was that there were core aspects of the visions and dreams in Sydney that were almost identical to Melbourne. Overall 120 participants have taken part – 35 in Sydney and 75 in Melbourne.
“We were really taken aback to see Sydney and Melbourne urban leaders agreeing so strongly on their vision for the future. As researchers we find this very exciting as it confirms other modelling research we have been conducting that to be resilient to extreme weather and low-carbon we need to move away from the centralised management under which these two cities currently operate,” he said.
“The key nature of these workshops was to allow major stakeholders – from the construction and design industry to the community – to dream of a city in the future and identify areas of innovation that could achieve increases in well-being with decreases in energy and resource consumption.
“This group vision also saw technology playing an increased ‘enabling’ role – particularly the Internet which is needed to support so many of the innovations” said Professor Ryan.
Another key point of discussion was the effect of climate on building, precinct and city design and the infrastructure that provides energy, food, transport and water for city life.
“The change in climate was also noted as a key reason why city designs will need to change so that buildings collect and recycle water, create energy and grow food. Another major point of discussion was how innovative built environment solutions might build on a growing economy of efficient sharing of things and resources – from rooms and cars to solar electricity and recycled water,” said Professor Ryan.
The reduction in the use of fossil fuels by conserving energy and dramatically increasing the use of renewable energy was also on the table, particularly in relation to changing public transport to a completely renewable electrical system.
“Overall the vision for Sydney and Melbourne is to have better connected communities, ones that work together, not against each other. A vision where buildings and precincts are built with food, water, energy and technology in mind and which are shared - resulting in better, more connected communities than currently exist.
“Ultimately social networks will be different as we will change the way we build and operate as a society – which will be more networked and localised with decentralised systems of transport, energy, food, and water supply with localised economies,” said Professor Ryan.
Professor Deo Prasad, AO, CEO for the CRCLCL said the project was of major importance in creating a vision for a sustainable urban future.
“Ultimately the project team and the stakeholders’ jobs are to dream about what a low carbon living city may look like in 2040 then work out how these dreams can become a reality. They need to have visions during this process which may also flag disruptive innovations that, like the steam engine, could completely change the way we live. It is an extremely exciting project with many possibilities,” said Professor Prasad.
“This visionary process will provide a better understanding of how our cities will evolve and what the research, capacity building and policy needs are required to make this transition.”
The Visions and Pathways 2040 Project has a host of leading project partners: AECOM, HASSELL, Brookfield Multiplex, City of Melbourne, City of Sydney, Sydney Water, Aurecon, International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), The University of Melbourne, the University of New South Wales and Swinburne University of Technology.
A big thank you to HASSELL for hosting the Sydney workshop at their Sydney studio in Walsh Bay.
