Towards the better future – Sydney 2030 plan To facilitate the future planning of Sydney 2050, this study tailors the research findings to the City of Sydney's urban environment. The City of Sydney Local Government Area (LGA) will be able to endure, adapt, and thrive despite the rising severity and intensity of heatwaves in Sydney because of the urban heat island challenges. Overheating in urban centers is expected to become more of a problem in Sydney as the city's population and density increase (Livada et al., 2019). It is projected that the potential advantages of cooling sea breezes will diminish as urban density increases (He, 2018). It will therefore be challenging for the City of Sydney to increase existing density across mid- and high-rise buildings without compromising its ability to manage and adapt to urban heat. Decades of development and refinement have invested into developing mitigation measures and technology that will help our cities deal with the effects of growing overheating in cities. These mitigation techniques can reduce peak ambient temperatures by 2-3°C, as well as cooling energy consumption and heat related morbidity and mortality, if implemented correctly (Santamouris et al., 2017). It is noted that because of their (sub) tropical temperatures most cities' negative UHI consequences surpass their positive UHI impacts during winter (e.g., reduced heating costs and cold-related mortality), although this is not the case for all cities (ed Fernando, 2012). The dense urban environment of Sydney's Central Business District presents a substantial challenge for enhancing the city's capacity to diminish and adapt to excessive temperature by 2050. Contested urban area limits the ability to introduce further flora, streetscapes, and green areas. However, proposing photovoltaic panels on a facade or green or cool roofs can help to reduce a building's power usage, they are unlikely to influence the air temperature at street level. Due to the presence of hard surfaces on the selected site, it is recommended that the use of extremely reflecting pavements and façade materials be minimized, since they might cause glare and health hazards due to increased sun radiation.
33
