Planning under pressure to tackle rising heat risk

As temperatures rise, calls grow to redesign Queensland's urban sprawl In short: Conservationists are calling for extreme heat to be recognised as a hazard in state planning. Heatwaves kill more people than natural disasters, according to government research. The Planning Institute of Australia's head of policy, Nicole Bennetts, says there are a lack of legislative mandates for developers to mitigate heat. When Chris Kahler moved into his home in Townsville two decades ago, it was a very different environment than it is today. "I was sitting in the kitchen trying to shelter from the heat and I was just dripping sweat, it was terrible. It was hot, still, horrid," Mr Kahler said. In a bid to make his home cooler, the botanist has since modified it by enlarging windows and removing walls to encourage cross breezes, planted out his yard and painted his roof white to reflect heat. It has allowed him to survive the sweltering conditions without running an air conditioner, despite the sometimes oppressive north Queensland humidity. A risk for health and habitat Heatwaves are Australia's deadliest natural hazard, and according to the Queensland Government's heatwave risk assessment, are responsible for more deaths than any other natural hazard combined. As the climate warms, and many urban environments become more densely developed, there is growing concern about how heat is impacting communities. Crystal Falknau, from the North Queensland Conservation Council, said she wants to see changes in how suburbs are planned and developed. "We see these small brick houses that are built to be lived in with air conditioning," Ms Falknau said. "If you don't have access to rooftop solar, and if the power goes out, it means that you're stuck in basically a brick oven, and that's what can kill people." The organisation was part of a group which petitioned the state government to include heat as a natural hazard in its planning policy. "Something like a cyclone or a flood, it's a big disruption and it's treated as an emergency. When you have a heatwave, it's a silent killer," she said. According to government reporting, Queensland's yearly average temperature has warmed by 1.5 degrees since records began in 1910, while the National Climate Risk Assessment projected heat-related mortality would increase significantly if temperatures increased by 2 and 3 degrees. Cities of the future Nicole Bennetts is the head of policy and advocacy with the Planning Institute of Australia. She said while mapping for natural disasters like floods and bushfires in planning schemes can be relatively straightforward, it is difficult to plan for heat. "A flood has devastating impacts on property you can see. Heat is invisible, it is something that creeps up on us," Ms Bennetts said. She said extreme heat is often exacerbated during heatwaves where there are repeated hot days. "Concrete, our roofs, our walls of buildings, they all trap heat," she said. "You can have an air temperature of 35 degrees but an urban environment feeling more like 40 or 40 plus because of the cumulative days of heat being trapped." The new draft State Planning Policy, which is now open for consultation, identifies the reduction of "urban heat islands" as a key planning priority. Ms Bennetts said the Planning Institute would like to see requirements on developments to reduce the heat of urban environments. "We need to be designing and planning our cities for the climate that they will be accommodating in decades from today, not the climate that they were designed for maybe 20 years ago," she said. In a statement, Minister of State Development Jarrod Bleijie said Queensland's State Planning Policy had not been reviewed since 2016 and previously not mentioned heat at all. Design key to livability James Davidson is an architect who specialises in climate resilient design. His firm publishes guides for councils around adaptation and resilience against flood, fire, heat and other hazards. He believes that the National Construction Code rather than planning policies, need to adapt to allow more innovative design. "I think we're at risk of building the same old stuff over and over and over until these construction codes and our Australian standards come up to speed essentially," he said. "Realistically, what we're designing for today will still be there in 20, 30, 40 or 50 years' time." He said air conditioning systems can often struggle in high temperatures and electricity grids fail under the extreme loads put on them on hot days. "One of the most critical things to do is to look at passive systems, things that don't need to be activated if if you lose power," he said. "Better design doesn't necessarily have to cost more money. It just is a different way of thinking about arranging space and utilising certain types of materials as well. Greener in more ways than one For Mr Kahler, a better quality of life was found by allowing nature into his home. "Letting the garden almost into the house, occasionally birds and butterflies will be wafting though the kitchen as I'm cooking — I just love it," he said. "The breeze kind of funnels through that green, cooled garden and then into the house." He said he is frustrated when he sees urban sprawl which doesn't take into account heat, especially in the face of climate change. "It's a problem we can't solve but we can certainly ameliorate or dampen the effect, but we don't seem to have the interest."