New case studies reveal WSC innovations and lessons

We like to profile recently completed projects to highlight the drivers, innovations and lessons learnt, because we know that sharing knowledge encourages research adoption and spurs innovation.

We now have three new case studies hot off the press:

• Moonee Valley—early application of the Water Sensitive Cities (WSC) Index Tool to Moonee Valley City Council
• Gold Coast—early application of the Water Sensitive Cities Transition Planning Process to City of Gold Coast
• Kunshan Ring Road, China—creation of multifunctional green corridors through integrated design of land beneath and adjacent to major elevated roads.

Each case study gives plenty of project detail, but here’s a taste of what they cover:

Moonee Valley Council wanted to maintain its status as a leading council in integrated water management (in 2016, it was the first area to apply the WSC Index Tool beyond the trial phase) and renew its Integrated Water Management Strategy.

We helped set six measurable targets for the Council to improve water cycle management, ecosystem health and community equity and engagement. These targets included having 100 per cent of sports fields and priority parks irrigated with alternative supply, 30 per cent canopy cover by year 2040, and 100 per cent of residents and workers within 500 metres of green space.

The targets are now adopted as part of Council’s MV2040 Strategy, with one major initiative being to create the Maribyrnong River Cultural Precinct as a vibrant events destination in Aberfeldie (a suburb of the City of Moonee Valley).

By 2040 the Gold Coast’s population is projected to increase from 600,000 to 940,000. The city’s waterways and beaches are one of the primary reasons people choose to live and visit the Gold Coast, so protecting these natural assets is very important to community values and the Gold Coast’s iconic water lifestyle.

The outputs of the CRCWSC’s WSC Index Tool and Transition Dynamics Framework gave form to the new 20-year City of Gold Coast Water Strategy and led to the formation of the Gold Coast’s water sensitive city network. All stakeholders now have a greater understanding of the challenges and opportunities.

The Chinese Government has designated Kunshan a ‘sponge city’, where opportunities for water sensitive solutions are being explored. Together with our SME partner E2DesignLab, we developed a concept to create a ‘Ring Road in a forest corridor’, where the land corridor beneath the road was used as a multifunctional parkland.

This AUD $16.7 million project offered two key lessons:

• Roadside landscapes and spaces under flyovers have great potential to be converted to blue-green corridors, which are important connections for a city and regional scale ecological system.
• Parklands can be designed to become multifunctional water management infrastructure, providing filtration to improve water quality.