Planning for the compact city; An assessment of melbourne@5 million

The compact city is acknowledged by the international community as the principal sustainable urban form to combat increasing ubainsation pressures and urban sprawl. In Melbourne, Australia urban population growth is anticipated to increase to 5 million people by 2030 and as a policy response the Victorian Government implemented the compact city strategic plan ; Melbourne@5 million. It aims at containing urban growth and reconsolidating the Melbourne metropolitan area into 100 activity centers (high density mixed used centers). However, the progressional development of dispersed urban forms towards a more compact urban morphology is expected to accentuate and expand the already established Urban Heat Island UHI effect experienced in many cities worldwide. The potential threat to human health will also be exacerbated as urban dwellers are at a heightened risk of experiencing heat stress during extreme temperature events, as the UHI effect may also be superimposed by projected global climate change impacts. Therefore, the main objective of this investigation is to assess the microclimatic impacts and associated outdoor human thermal environmental impacts resulting from proposed changes in urban morphologies (ie. high density mixed used activity centers) as highlighted in the Melbourne@5 million planning scheme. This will be achieved by simulating microclimatic information via the ENVI-met three dimensional microscale numerical modelling suite and validating against fieldwork measurements. The expected outcome of this study may potentially assist in developing policy suggestions for improving Melbourne's urban microclimate, an aspect which has not yet been considered in Melbourne's planning policy initiatives.