Understanding the nature of publics and local policy commitment to Water Sensitive Urban Design

Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) is a recent planning and design philosophy in Australia primarily used to minimise the hydrological impacts of urban development on the surrounding environment. As local governments plan and regulate the bulk of public and private infrastructure and development, they are key participants in the implementation of WSUD. However, according to research conducted involving 38 municipalities in Melbourne, Australia, the implementation of WSUD is inconsistent across the metropolitan area. The mixed methods research comprised a survey of municipal officers, interviews with the officers and mayors, and a review of municipal accountability documents. The results revealed a strong municipal commitment to WSUD in areas bounded by the coast or where the natural vegetation exceeds 50% of the municipal area. Furthermore, these committed municipalities tended to coincide with communities of higher wealth and population. Overall, the analysis revealed three types of municipalities – high, partial, and limited commitment – that are indicated by a variation in environmental values, demographic and socio-economic status, local organised environmentalism, municipal environmental messages, and intergovernmental disposition. This paper argues for policy reform for WSUD, as it is largely sympathetic to the highly committed municipalities, and highlights the need to enable the participation of publics in the municipalities of limited and partial commitment by linking WSUD to greater public concerns and building commitment through diverse policy interventions.

Research highlights▶ Municipal WSUD commitment positively correlated with local wealth and education and was higher in municipalities possessing over 50% natural vegetation or located along the coast. ▶ From a mixed-method analysis, three commitment types were identified among the 38 municipalities—high, partial, and limited. ▶ To garner WSUD commitment, policies should be tailored to the three commitment types that are pertinent to the municipal publics and sympathetic to local context.