A render commissioned by council of how a green Melbourne could look.
Melbourne's plan to make the city green by boosting urban forests and decorating buildings with ‘vertical greening.’ The City of Melbourne Council will also reveal details of a ‘demonstration green roof’ as part of its 2019-20 budget.
The Green Our City Strategic Action Plan
Australia's 2nd largest city, based on current forecasts, is projected to become the most populated city in Australia. With the number of people residing in the municipality expected to double over the next two decades. Although this growth can be seen as a reflection of the city’s popularity and liveability. The City of Melbourne has proactively taken action to improve liveability into the future.
The Green Our City Strategic Action Plan is a four year plan that aims to improve amenity, liveability and minimise climate change, by increasing the quantity of green roofs and vertical greening in the municipality. The $19.1 million plan will also create urban forests throughout the city, with plans already approved by council to build a living ‘skyfarm’ in the city.
The City of Melbourne owns and controls less than one third of the city’s land area, with the majority of the municipality in private ownership or other government ownership. Therefore, the action plan is also aimed at influencing the private sectors' participation in green city plan. The primary actions of the plan include;
- leading by example - developing and implementing a prioritised program of greening projects in the public and private realm to demonstrate leadership in this sector..
- expansion of urban greening in public areas.
- making relevant information and data available to the public.
- introducing changes to the planning scheme.
Overview Of The Plan
The Green Our City Strategic Action Plan aims to do the following;
- $4.2 million commitment to plant at least 3,400 trees in the next year.
- to help council care for more than 80,000 trees.
- increase the quality of green roofs and vertical greening across the municipality.
- progress a planning scheme amendment to improve sustainability performance and deliver green infrastructure on buildings.
- $7.1 million in upgrades across 480 hectares of parks and gardens.
- $4.2 million plan to collect and reuse rainwater, by renewing drains and harvesting stormwater, to protect gardens from drought.
Further information can be found on the Melbourne Council's website here; https://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/community/greening-the-city/green-infrastructure/Pages/green-our-city-action-plan.aspx