With recent climate events shaking up Aotearoa, the government have taken a hard look at New Zealand's urban cities and their resilience, releasing a new report on Thursday titled Are we building harder, hotter cities? The vital importance of urban green spaces.
The report outlines several gaps in New Zealand's resilience measures when combating extreme weather with hotter and wetter shifts in climate suggesting two approaches to mitigate future issues. The country can focus on engineered infrastructure, adding more air conditioning and storm water networks, or can aid the biodiversity, recreational and cultural co-benefits or urban centers and make our urban areas greener.
Housing pressures on many cities are making the switch to green harder. With a growing population and limited space, many councils have put the 'green movement' on the back burner, resulting in fewer green spaces, a dwindling tree population and fewer lawns.
Ultimately, a switch needs to occur, and prioritizing green will hopefully increase the social capital for individuals living in urban centers.
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Check out the original story on RNZ below.
Original Story Thomas Welch, RNZ
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