Retrofitting the suburban garden: Morphologies and some elements of sustainability potential of two Australian residential suburbs compared

Ghosh, S; Head, L

Retrofitting the suburban garden: Morphologies and some elements of sustainability potential of two Australian residential suburbs compared

Ghosh, S

Head, L

Permalink

Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Australian Geographer, 2009, 40 (3), pp. 319 - 346
Issue Date:: 2009-01-01

Closed Access

	Filename	Description	Size
	2010005678OK_GHOSH.pdf		1.46 MB	Adobe PDF	View/Open

Copyright Clearance Process

Recently Added
In Progress
Closed Access

This item is closed access and not available.

Full metadata record

Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Ghosh, S https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6488-9329	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Head, L	en_US
dc.date.issued	2009-01-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Australian Geographer, 2009, 40 (3), pp. 319 - 346	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0004-9182	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/17166
dc.description.abstract	© 2009 Geographical Society of New South Wales Inc. Residential gardens will continue to dominate as important elements of Australian suburbs in the timeframe available for adapting to climate change. In this paper, we analyse and compare the morphologies and sustainability potential of residential suburbs and their gardens in two case studies: Traditional-suburban and Modern-suburban in the Illawarra region of New South Wales. Spatial distributions of land-cover patterns were estimated using Geographic Information Systems (ArcGIS). The four sustainability parameters measured were: roof rain water collection; local food (vegetable) production; energy and CO2 emission savings from clothes lines; and carbon benefits of onsite tree canopy cover. Outcomes suggest that land cover such as tree canopy cover and other permeable and impermeable surfaces in garden spaces can significantly impact on sustainability. Impermeable surface cover is higher in the Modern-suburban compared to the Traditional-suburban development. Traditional-suburban is more capable of supporting environmental and ecological functions through better connectivity of green spaces and availability of onsite land areas for local food production. Modern-suburban has more capacity for roof rainwater collection due to larger building roof sizes, provided there is planning for sufficient tank spaces in the design phases. These results identify specific characteristics of two suburban forms which could make positive contributions to suburban sustainability. However, changes in behaviour would be essential to utilise these capabilities of suburban environments.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Australian Geographer	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1080/00049180903127754	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Geography	en_US
dc.title	Retrofitting the suburban garden: Morphologies and some elements of sustainability potential of two Australian residential suburbs compared	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	3	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	40	en_US
utslib.for	1205 Urban and Regional Planning	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building/School of Built Environment
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.issue	3	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	40	en_US

Abstract:

© 2009 Geographical Society of New South Wales Inc. Residential gardens will continue to dominate as important elements of Australian suburbs in the timeframe available for adapting to climate change. In this paper, we analyse and compare the morphologies and sustainability potential of residential suburbs and their gardens in two case studies: Traditional-suburban and Modern-suburban in the Illawarra region of New South Wales. Spatial distributions of land-cover patterns were estimated using Geographic Information Systems (ArcGIS). The four sustainability parameters measured were: roof rain water collection; local food (vegetable) production; energy and CO2 emission savings from clothes lines; and carbon benefits of onsite tree canopy cover. Outcomes suggest that land cover such as tree canopy cover and other permeable and impermeable surfaces in garden spaces can significantly impact on sustainability. Impermeable surface cover is higher in the Modern-suburban compared to the Traditional-suburban development. Traditional-suburban is more capable of supporting environmental and ecological functions through better connectivity of green spaces and availability of onsite land areas for local food production. Modern-suburban has more capacity for roof rainwater collection due to larger building roof sizes, provided there is planning for sufficient tank spaces in the design phases. These results identify specific characteristics of two suburban forms which could make positive contributions to suburban sustainability. However, changes in behaviour would be essential to utilise these capabilities of suburban environments.

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:

http://hdl.handle.net/10453/17166