Blog 1: Sustainable cities? Australia's building and planning rules stand in the way of getting there

[Gregory Johnson]

Australia has run in to a big problem with the construction of their buildings and the land use policies. The problems are hindering them from building "sustainable cities". A sustainable city can be best described as a city that takes in to account the impact it has on the environment. Most buildings in Australia fail to reach the building requirements. Failure to meet these requirements could be a result of the construction team not doing their job properly. There is nobody watching their backs and little to no legislation or enforcement to make sure these cities are sustainable. Australia's goal is to build a "low-carbon future" for cities and buildings but building codes and state planning systems are not meeting the requirements necessary to push their "low-carbon future further along.


The UN has created Sustainable Development goals. This was put in to place because countries came to an agreement to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. The goals range from no poverty to gender equality. There are a total of 17 goals and among those goals are sustainable cities and communities. Currently Australia is ranked 20th on the out all the countries in the United Nations. Australia is an important country because they account for 40% of worldwide energy use and one third of green house gas emissions. 


Since the national building code is failing the country of Australia, local planning systems are stepping up their game. One group that is at the forefront of this revolution is the Council Alliance for sustainable Built Environments which is based out of Victoria. Tension has been high between this group and the state government because the government is not willing to allow change. However,  the CASBE is working along side local governments in order to create sustainable living environments. In order for Australia to move forward, local planning committees, local governments and state governments need to be all in agreement.

https://theconversation.com/sustainable-cities-australias-building-...

[Joshua Robert Powers]

That is an extremely interesting post and it shows that not every country is concerned with the same issues of city building. It does however, show dangers in over regulating done by the government. They can eventually become a burden and out weigh their intended benefits.