Inquiry into Sustainable Australian Cities

This report from the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Environment and Heritage reports on issues and policies related to the development of sustainable cities to the year 2025.

The inquiry, which was originally timed to coincide with the Year of the Built Environment in 2004, sought to ‘identify current and future patterns of settlement, the sustainability issues associated with these settlement patterns, and how government policy might ensure that developed areas retain an Australian lifestyle without diminishing the future value of Australian eco-systems’.

Terms of reference

• The environmental and social impacts of sprawling urban development;
• The major determinants of urban settlement patterns and desirable patterns of development for the growth of Australian cities;
• A ‘blueprint’ for ecologically sustainable patterns of settlement, with particular reference to eco-efficiency and equity in the provision of services and infrastructure;
• Measures to reduce the environmental, social and economic costs of continuing urban expansion; and
• Mechanisms for the Commonwealth to bring about urban development reform and promote ecologically sustainable patterns of settlement.

Report

A report on the Inquiry was released in September 2005. It is divided into nine chapters:

1. A Vision for Sustainable Cities
2. Sustainability and Cities
3. Governance and policy frameworks – developing a national approach
4. Planning and settlement patterns
5. Transport
6. Water
7. Building design and management
8. Energy
9. Research and Feedback

Follow this link for the report on sustainable Australian cities (opens in a new browser window)

Recommendations

• The report makes thirty-two recommendations to the Australian Government, which are detailed in the preliminary pages. These include: the establishment of an Australian Sustainability Charter;
• the establishment of an independent Australian Sustainability Commission;
• a significant boost to the funding commitment for public transport; and, that the Australian Government further develop its commitment to energy sustainability.

Follow this link to download the report’s preliminary pages, including recommendations (pdf file - opens in a new browser window)

For further information

Contact	:	The Secretary of the Committee
Phone	:	02 6277 4580
Fax	:	02 6277 4424
Email	:	environment.reps@aph.gov.au