Urban Intensification & Green Infrastructure: Towards a Water Sensitive City

Striving for the highest sustainability standards makes sense environmentally and economically.

The strategies we are seeing here mean that water from the Tonsley site will be cleaner and more available, and may be used for more than just environmental purposes. We can now effectively assess least-cost solutions to achieve the best environmental outcomes so that Tonsley can be viewed in terms of water sensitive design best practice.

Phil Donaldson, then Director of Sustainability with Renewal SA

This project examines the issues and processes involved in delivering best-practice water sensitive urban design by designing demonstration projects (such as Tonsley) for precinct scale development and redevelopment in Australian cities. The scale, design and delivery are determined by the particular constraints and contexts of each location. Factors include strategic urban planning, building regulations, climate, site availability, local catchment issues including ecology, water quality and flood risk. By using a precinct approach to development and redevelopment we can fully integrate urban water systems and improve the ecological performance, resilience and social amenity of our urban environments.

Birdseye view of Tonsley redevelopment. Ideas of integrated urban forest and water systems delivering urban coolth. Image by MAS.

Birdseye view of Tonsley redevelopment. Daylighted water systems add biodiversity and urban climate benefits. Image by MAS.

Composite Diagram. The many layers of thinking compressed and overlain revealing a series of transitions, from dry to wet, green to grey, formality to informality – representational diagram. Image by MAS.