Introduction

Introduction

Background

Urbanization is a phenomenon that has existed throughout human history in various forms. Rapid urbanization has resulted from a combination of population growth and economic growth. Urban growth must take place in a way that maximizes the benefits to the urban population while minimizing the economic and environmental costs. Over the recent decades, urban growth studies have gained significant attention, especially because metropolitan areas are continuously and rapidly increasing all over the world. Securing a sustainable future for urban populations is becoming one of the 21st century's biggest issues. Due of this urban development studies have received a great deal of interest in relation to environmental change.

Now since climate change is not looming over our heads. When it comes to heatwaves, it's challenging to live in Sydney for the million people who must deal with the effects of weather extremes on their sleep, schoolwork, and work schedules. Australian temperatures have risen by roughly 1.440 Celsius since records began. However, the heat is not felt equally: Sydney's western suburbs are suffering the most from the heat (Untouchable playgrounds: Urban heat and the future of Western Sydney, 2021). There is nothing natural about these conditions. A combination of climate change, negligent urban planning, and an increasing population has resulted in heat-intensifying infrastructure (roadways, buildings, carparks) encroaching on the Sydney City or CBD (Energy and climate change n.d.).

The UHI has a negative impact on air quality, energy use, and public health, including mortality rates. Heat is recognized as a "deadly weather-related phenomenon" and is projected to get worse as the planet warms (Grimmond et al., 2010).

More Australians have died in the last century because of extreme heat outbreaks than any other natural disaster (Heatwaves: Hotter, Longer, More Often n.d.). Heat-related mortality is expected to rise due to the cumulative effects of increased urban densities, exacerbating existing UHI impacts, and warmer circumstances brought on by climate change (Kalkstein et al. n.d.).

However, city planners have a dilemma because the number of people who want to live in urban centers is rising. As a result, people intuitively or explicitly understand that there may be disadvantages, like heatrelated health effects, that must be assessed against the potential advantages. Cities are intricate networks of sociopolitical and ecological interaction. As cities increase in population and economy, consumption patterns, infrastructure delivery, and habitat degradation are all impacted (State of Australian Cities 2014-2015 Progress in Australian Regions n.d.). Since about 2017, 67 percent of Australians lived in capital cities, and that number is predicted to rise to between 69 and 70 percent by 2027 according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Since Australia is one of the world's most urbanized countries, urban policy research that is based in experience is especially important (Davidson & Arman,2014).

Different studies have been conducted in Australia to help comprehend the urban heat island (UHI) and provide strategies to city planners for reducing heat stress. The Cooperative Research Centre for Low Carbon Living (CRCLCL) has recently financed a number of initiatives aimed at reducing heat in urban areas through cooperative research. An investigation of the effects of heat in urban environments at micro and