Australian Cities Promote Climate Resilience with Sustainable Infrastructure

Heatwaves, wildfires, but also floods. Australia’s response to climate change and its extreme consequences includes infrastructure alongside an ambition to launch a series of projects to strengthen the country’s climate resilience—starting with its major cities.

In Queensland and New South Wales, the 2022 floods caused over 6 billion Australian dollars (4 billion US dollars) in damages, disrupting transport, closing schools, and forcing thousands of people to evacuate.

That’s why today’s infrastructure needs a deep structural overhaul focused on climate change adaptation. No longer “one-off” measures, but long-term initiatives that cover all infrastructure sectors—from water management plants to roads, from public transport to energy supply.

At the federal level, the government has launched the National Adaptation Plan that sets guidelines for integrating climate change resilience into infrastructure policy. This initiative is rooted in a logic of prevention and aims to transform the cities in Australia into an advanced laboratory for adaptive infrastructure—capable of responding to new environmental conditions.

Major Australian cities, starting with Melbourne and Sydney, are increasingly struggling with the effects of the so-called “heat island” phenomenon, where roads and asphalt store heat, raising city-center temperatures by 6–10 degrees celsius compared to the suburbs.

Countermeasures have included urban planning strategies like Sydney’s “Urban Forest Growth Strategy,” which allocates funds to increase tree cover in certain city areas, thereby reducing heat and increasing shaded zones.

Linked to extreme heat, the increasingly intense wildfires—which devastated vast forested areas in 2020—have prompted structural interventions. In recent years, many cities in Australia have designed houses, power lines, and road access using fire-resistant materials, incorporating firebreak zones around neighborhoods and managing vegetation.

The rise in weather variability—between torrential rains and droughts—has pushed authorities toward innovative approaches such as Water Sensitive Urban Design, already implemented in Victoria and New South Wales.

This urban infrastructure development model funds projects to turn cities into “sponge cities” that can collect, filter, and reuse rainwater.

An example is the town of Googong (near Canberra), which developed a water management plant capable of regenerating over 60% of stormwater and wastewater for non-potable use and green spaces. Similar initiatives are emerging in metropolitan areas to mitigate water stress and reduce pressure on traditional water networks.

Just like water management plants, roads and railways are being reimagined to function effectively during climate emergencies. The Northern Territory regional government, in partnership with the federal government, commissioned a study to assess the flood resilience of the national highway network, including the Stuart, Victoria, and Barkly highways.

The main goal is to identify vulnerable points within the road network, develop design options to reinforce bridges, embankments, and drainage systems, and boost infrastructure resistance to extreme weather events related to climate change.

In New South Wales, infrastructure development plans now include comprehensive climate risk assessments and budget allocations for urban reforestation in every project.

Perth is one city that best embodies the need to modernize its infrastructure with an eye to climate change adaptation.

An example of this shift is the Forrestfield–Airport Link, the underground light metro inaugurated in 2022, which connects Perth’s eastern suburbs to the existing suburban rail and the city’s airport.

The 16-km line, built by a joint venture led by the Webuild Group, is a resilient, modern, sustainable project that in 2023 received the “Leading AsBuilt” rating—the highest recognition from the Infrastructure Sustainability Council—for its sustainability and innovative design.
Connecting the airport to the city in just 20 minutes, the line carries an average of 20,000 passengers per day, removes 15,000 vehicles from the roads, and cuts 2,000 tons of CO₂ emissions per year.