Observatories for Future Cities: From Urban Heat Vulnerability to the Australian Smart Environmental Observatory

Lan Ding

UNSW Sydney

Abstract

The increasing overheating of our cities can have significant health, economic, environmental and social consequences. This talk will present the “National Heat Vulnerability Observatory (NaHVO)” project, undertaken by UNSW Sydney in partnership with the NSW Government in Australia, which addresses this challenge. The project addresses key research questions including: How can we measure and report National Urban Heat Vulnerability in a consistent way? How can we establish benchmark datasets and an Index for Australian cities? Can mitigation and adaptation strategies be integrated with the National Urban Heat Vulnerability Index? Can the Index be dynamic and evolve over time? Can the National Urban Heat Vulnerability Index be designed to support data interoperability? In addition, the talk will provide a preview of the upcoming “Australian Smart Environmental Observatory to Shape Future Cities” project, funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC).

Bio

A/Professor Lan Ding is the Convenor of the High-Performance Architecture Research Cluster at the UNSW School of Built Environment, Australia. She was the UNSW Node Leader in the former CRC for Low Cabron Living. Her recent research focuses on microclimate mitigation to inform government policy and urban interventions aimed at cooling cities and streetscapes, as well as protecting the health of vulnerable populations. Her research areas include: urban heat mitigation and adaptation in the built environment, net-zero energy buildings, building and urban information modelling, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications in smart cities. Lan has led more than 20 large research projects in Australia and secured over AUD 10 million in research funding.