Canberra’s Living Infrastructure Plan: Cooling the city
This plan helps our city adapt to the effects of climate change.
As the ACT’s climate changes, we will experience higher average temperatures and longer and more frequent heatwaves. This will increase the urban heat island effect. Roads, footpaths and buildings absorb the sun's heat and make the environment feel much hotter than nearby green spaces.
Canberra’s living infrastructure, such as trees, parks, lakes, swales, and wetlands, will help to reduce urban heat during hot weather.
Canberra’s Living Infrastructure Plan outlines how we can nurture and grow these natural assets. This will protect our city’s unique bush capital character and make us more resilient to the impacts of a changing climate.
About the plan
Canberra's Living Infrastructure Plan sets an ambitious target for increasing our tree cover and green spaces. By 2045, across Canberra’s urban footprint it aims to achieve:
- 30% tree canopy cover or other forms of living infrastructure. Examples include green roofs, shrub beds, wetlands and rain gardens.
- 30% permeable surfaces. Examples include grass, gravel and porous paving.
The plan sets targets and policies to address urban heat across three overarching themes:
- Nurturing and expanding our urban forest.
- Creating a climate ready planning system.
- Supporting community-led efforts.
Read the summary [PDF 7.0 MB] or the full report [PDF 11.4 MB].
What the ACT Government is doing
The ACT Government will ensure that Canberra’s growing urban density is balanced with a natural environment, green spaces and trees. This will reduce urban heat and help to climate-proof our city.
- Since 2019, we’ve made significant changes to how the ACT’s urban forest is managed. Tree planting has increased along key walking and cycling routes, open spaces and recreational areas. The Urban Forest Strategy 2021-2045 guides the delivery of the public land contribution to the 2045 tree canopy targets.
- The ACT’s progress is measured every 5 years using Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) imagery. This will ensure we remain on track to achieve the 30% target.
- New protections are in place for existing urban trees through the Urban Forest Act 2023. The new laws improve tree protection on both public and private land.
- We’re also looking at how we can fit even more trees into the urban landscape through a review of the Municipal Infrastructure Standards.
Did you know?
The ACT Government is planting 54,000 trees across the ACT from 2021 to 2024 to increase our tree canopy cover. You can nominate where new trees could be planted.
The ACT Government is evolving its urban planning and building design practises to ensure we remain resilient to climate change. This includes considering the types of building materials and designs that help to reduce urban heat and make our city climate ready.
- We introduced climate ready planning reforms through the 2023 Territory Plan and Planning Act. This will help to ensure homes remain comfortable in hot weather and communities have natural surrounds to enjoy.
- We have strengthened tree canopy cover provisions for all different residential building types and commercial zones. These reforms will provide bigger backyards and green spaces for all new developments.
- We are currently exploring the potential benefits of lighter coloured roofs and green walls and roofs. The community and industry will be consulted on any actions proposed as a result of these investigations.
- A microclimate assessments pilot study is currently underway to reduce the potential urban heat impacts of new developments.
The ACT Government recognises that we can’t reach our climate goals without the help of land owners, builders and the community. Community groups and the private sector play an important role in reducing urban heat.
The Nature in the City: Cooling Your Suburb program capitalises on local knowledge to reduce urban heat across Canberra. The program provides grants for projects that reduce urban heat islands and increase natural shade.
Resources are available for the community to help improve climate resilience:
- For community groups and built environment professionals, a climate-wise landscape guide [PDF 16.3 MB] is available on the Climate Choices website. This shows how to create healthy, climate resilient and biodiverse gardens and public lands.
- The Canberra Plant Selector helps people choose climate resilient plants to grow in their gardens and outdoor spaces.
Why it's important
We live in one of the fastest-growing capital cities in Australia. We expect more than 600,000 people to call Canberra home by 2050.
The ACT is already feeling the effects of climate change. We're recording higher average temperatures and more frequent heatwaves.
Living infrastructure helps to reduce urban heat by providing natural shade. It also retains water in the landscape, reducing flash flooding during storm events, and supporting native biodiversity.
The cooling effect from trees and green spaces also reduces the need to turn up the air conditioning on hot days, helping households to save on their energy bills.
As Canberra’s urban environment grows and evolves, we’re committed to ensuring our tree canopy and living infrastructure assets continue to expand as well.
The Living Infrastructure Plan will grow our urban forest, make our city and buildings more climate resilient and empower the community with the tools and resources to become climate ready.
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.