A Green Liveable City
Colonel Light was quite the ‘green thumb’, surrounding the city with beautiful parklands. The European cities he was used to were grey and polluted so he planned for natural vegetation to create fresh, clean air.
Inspired by Light’s vision for a green city, we want to increase vegetation across urban areas. Studies show that higher levels of natural plant life bring with them a range of social and environmental benefits - better quality of air, natural stormwater management, improved community health and more habitats for our native fauna. Going green is also a big part of our broader response to climate change.
The Update has six high-level targets to help us measure our progress on how Greater Adelaide will become a more liveable, sustainable and competitive place.
Target:
Urban green cover is increased by 20% in metropolitan Adelaide by 2045
Baseline:
27.28%
How will we achieve this?
Particular focus will be placed on ensuring that urban infill areas maintain appropriate levels of urban greenery. Urban green cover refers to trees and shrubs located in street verges, parks and backyards.
This target will support the work being done by councils through their tree strategies which address biodiversity and quality of vegetation.
Policy themes
The Update has 14 policy themes which outline the policies and actions which will help us achieve our targets. The most relevant ones are listed below.
Water (PDF, 674 KB)The following actions will be undertaken in 2017/18 to help meet this target:
| Ref | Actions | Key milestones | Policy themes / Key policies | Other relevant Targets | Key partners | Timing FY | Milestone progress |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A63 | Pursue opportunities to plant urban green cover along arterial roads, rail corridors and medians where safe to do so. | Develop guidelines to support more trees and green cover on arterial roads. |   P111 | 3 | Councils | Q1 | Complete |
| Investigate strategies and funding opportunities to increase the greening of recreation and sports precincts in particular areas to buffers to arterial road frontages | Q4 | Project Scoping | |||||
| A57 | Partner with local government through the Open Space grant program to plan and prioritise a series of projects which demonstrate opportunities to provide quality open space outcomes in higher density urban renewal areas. | Release of the Open Space and Places for People Grants for 2017/2018 (Planning and Development Fund) |   | 3, 4 | Councils | Q1 | In progress |
| A9 | Deliver demonstration projects in the Park Lands that help create a liveable city, provide for a range of activities, and link the city to the suburbs. | Delivery of Park 19 |
| 3, 4 | Adelaide City Council | Q2 | In progress |
| Delivery of Natnungga/Park 25 | Q4 | In progress | |||||
| A59 | Develop planning policies and provide guidance to assist in the delivery of green infrastructure. | Delivery of the Quality Public Spaces project |
| 3, 4 | SA Health (Lead) | Q4 | In progress |
Respond to this action in the Policy Theme Papers that will inform the Planning and Design Code | Q3 | Project Scoping | |||||
| Green infrastructure and WSUD planning project | Water Sensitive SA (Lead) City of West Torrens, City of Mitcham and DEWNR | Q4 | In progress |
The following investigations will be undertaken in 2017/18 to help meet this target:
| Ref | Actions | How will this action be implemented in 2017/18? | Partners | Timing FY | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A62 | Develop a process to ensure consistency in how green canopies and other green infrastructure are measured. | Work with key stakeholders to develop protocols around the monitoring and collection of data. Research the options for data collection to cover finer grained detail, a broader scope of indicators and a greater geographical area. |
Councils AIA, AILA, PIA, UDIA + other key stakeholders | Q4 | Project scoping |
| Q4 |
