BLUE + GREEN = LIVEABILITY

Blue + green = liveability

“Our Blue + green = liveability paper builds on previous work by WSAA to highlight the contribution of urban water to liveable, sustainable and productive cities and regions. Australian cities and regions are in a period of rapid transformation as populations grow, our climate shifts and communities seek improved infrastructure delivery for a better way of life,” says Adam Lovell, WSAA’s Executive Director.

“The urban water industry enables broader liveability outcomes including contributing to green and blue infrastructure to deliver benefits to physical and mental health by making our communities cooler, healthier and more attractive places to live, work and play,” says Adam.

Adam continues: “While planning for green and blue infrastructure can start to unlock improved liveability outcomes there are no clear pathways to deliver and fund these initiatives. The water industry is committed to taking action and we call on Australian and New Zealand governments on all levels to collaborate with us and take leadership to enable green and blue infrastructure to deliver liveability outcomes for cities and regions by:

“Opportunities from the fulfillment of our recommendations would include the consideration of green and blue infrastructure as an essential first step in integrated planning. This would include requiring new developments to include green and blue infrastructure and specifying a certain amount of irrigated green open space in local planning instruments,” says Adam, “We know governments have an increasing focus on improving liveability in our cities and so WSAA engages with all levels of government and its members across Australia and New Zealand to advocate for a new National Water Initiative that includes a focus on the liveability of our cities and regions across the urban water cycle.”

Adam explains that WSAA’s initial focus after the release of this paper is to establish and maintain collaborative relationships with other sectors and governments: “The next step will be to identify where those relationships can make the most impact. We encourage the greenlife industry to continue advocating on the role of green infrastructure in liveable communities and the benefits of collaboration and coordination between various sectors,” concludes Adam.

Greener Spaces, Better Places

“Greenlife Industry Australia is very supportive of the Blue + green = liveability paper. It is the green blueprint for liveability of urban areas,” says Peter Vaughan, CEO of Greenlife Industry Australia, “The WSAA paper complements the Greener Spaces, Better Places program.”

Formerly known as the 202020 Vision, Greener Spaces, Better Places is the national initiative bringing together academia, business, government, community groups and the green industry to share knowledge and find new ways to work together to make sure that as our cities and towns grow, so too do our green spaces.

“Through the Greener Spaces, Better Places program, Greenlife Industry Australia are working with Hort Innovation and other stakeholders to continue to bring industry and commercial entities together to deliver living green infrastructure to Australian communities. We are promoting what the research has put forward about the importance of greenlife for health and being and other aspects to urban living,” says Peter.