Urban Design Mistakes Heating Western Sydney
Every summer in Sydney temperatures seem to be soaring higher and breaking records and Western Sydney is feeling a greater strain of that sweltering heat than anywhere else in Sydney. Western Sydney is severely impacted by the urban heat island effect with increasing urban development and a need for greater tree coverage.
This time last year Sydney was sizzling through a record-breaking heat wave. On January 7th in 2018 the Bureau of Meteorology measured 47.3 degrees Celsius in Penrith.
It is predicted that Western Sydney will experience an additional 5–10 hot days by 2030 (NSW Office of Environment & Heritage 2015).
So, how do we cool things down?
2SER spoke to Professor Chris Knapp, the Chair of Architecture at Western Sydney University about how the design of our city is causing temperatures to rise.
