Watering our cities : The capacity for Water Sensitive Urban Design to support urban cooling and improve human thermal comfort in the Australian context

Auteur(s) et Affiliation(s)



Description :
This paper draws on existing literature to demonstrate the potential of Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) to help improve outdoor human thermal comfort in urban areas and support Climate Sensitive Urban Design (CSUD) objectives within the Australian context. WSUD provides a mechanism for retaining water in the urban landscape through stormwater harvesting and reuse while also reducing urban temperatures through enhanced evapotranspiration and surface cooling. Research suggests that WSUD features are broadly capable of lowering temperatures and improving human thermal comfort, and when integrated with vegetation (especially trees) have potential to meet CSUD objectives. The AA. suggest that WSUD can provide a source of water across Australian urban environments for landscape irrigation and soil moisture replenishment to maximize the urban climatic benefits of existing vegetation and green spaces.


Type de document :
Article de périodique

Source :
Progress in physical geography, issn : 0309-1333, 2013, vol. 37, n°. 1, p. 2-28, nombre de pages : 27, Références bibliographiques : 5 p.

Date :
2013

Editeur :
Pays édition : Royaume-Uni, London, Sage Publications