Climate-resilient city

Sustainable urban design will help keep Canberra ‘green’ as we adapt to climate change. There are things we can all do to  design our homes, landscapes and architecture to keep our city cooler. Create more shade with trees and make your grounds more water absorbent using grasses and shrubs. Avoid excess concrete and choose hardy plants for our climate.

Our city’s living infrastructure – trees, plants, soils and water systems – help us adapt to the warming climate.

Canberra’s Living Infrastructure Plan sets targets to help cool our city and reduce urban heat. As landowners, builders and a community, we can all consider climate-wise urban design ideas. They help build our city’s resilience and prepare us for more extreme events.

Did you know?

The ACT has about 22.5% canopy cover with about 1.5 million trees on both public and private land.

Climate-wise landscapes

Climate-wise gardens are designed to capture and use water in sustainable ways, include climate-resilient plants and materials that are suited to our local climate.

Planning a climate-wise garden can also help protect you and your home from extreme weather events, such as heatwaves, storms, and floods. Read or download Gawari Ngilanmanyin: Remembering the Bush A Climate-wise Landscape Guide for the ACT [PDF 16.7MB].

Business and industry

You can take more steps towards resilience by:

  • increasing canopy cover from trees and vegetation in urban spaces
  • keeping water permeable surfaces such as grass and groundcover beds around buildings
  • adding rain gardens, water features and fountains, watered grass and shrub beds in communal spaces
  • constructing green roofs, green walls and climbers on structures
  • planting roof and podium gardens on higher-density buildings
  • doing a microclimate assessment for every development project.

Households

You can take more steps towards resilience by:

When designing a new home:

  • try to limit use of materials, such as concrete in outdoor areas, that absorb heat, making your home and surrounds hotter
  • choose suitable garden plants using the Canberra Plant Selector
  • consider green walls and roof gardens
  • protect existing trees on your site as well as any on surrounding properties and public areas
  • aim for efficient, zero emissions buildings.

These actions will help keep The ACT ‘green’.

Resilient Homes

Your Resilient Home Guide was created by Suburban Land Agency to help you to build a resilient home suited to Canberra’s changing climate.

Resilient homes are robust, flexible and ready to withstand extreme weather while keeping your family safer. They are also cheaper run, with lower utilities bills and a reduced likelihood of replacement and rebuilding costs across the lifetime of your home.

The guide is filled with tips to help you make simple, resilient choices during the design of your home, so you’ll live a more comfortable, sustainable life once you’ve moved in.

Explore the new guide and get inspired to build your own resilient home, especially designed for Canberra’s climate.

It’s part of the Suburban Land Agency’s Sustainability Strategy 2021-25.

Water sensitive urban design

Consider how water flows in the urban landscape. Soft surfaces such as soils, grasses and gravel can help rain to be absorbed. This supports our waterways and reduces stormwater runoff. It also keeps our trees healthy.

Follow our guidelines on water sensitive urban design [PDF 741kB].

You can also learn a lot by visiting sustainable projects in our region, such as:

Find planning ideas in:

Microclimate assessments

A microclimate is climate at a very small or local scale, for example:

  • around your house
  • a courtyard outside your local shopping centre
  • the outdoor spaces of a nearby development.

Microclimates are influenced by many things such as building materials, shade, trees, and wind tunnels between buildings.

Design can make a big difference to how comfortable an outdoor space is. It can also affect the heating and cooling costs of buildings nearby. Microclimate assessments are a tool for landowners, designers and developers. They can help to reduce heat in summer and cold in winter by suggesting options like:

  • light-coloured roof, wall and paving materials
  • the best places for trees, shade structures and water features
  • the best location for heat sources (including ‘waste heat’ generated by appliances like refrigerators or air conditioners)

Microclimate assessments are an emerging field that we are trialling in the ACT.

A draft microclimate assessment guide [4.3 MB] has also been developed. This draft is available to read while we finalise the final version, which is due to be complete in the second half of 2024.

If you would like to undertake a microclimate assessment in a planning application or your project, please contact EPSDDAdaptationandResiliencePolicy@act.gov.au for advice.

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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.