Green Growth in cities: two Australian cases

Green Growth (GG) is about decoupling emission intensity from economic growth, which can be achieved by fostering positive economic growth through resource-efficiency, cleaner environment and increased resilience to climate change. Cities play an important role in economic development, as they are inhabited by a large proportion of the global population in a relatively small land area and cities are the wheel of the economy of a country. Implementation and measurement of GG in cities is challenging as the regulatory framework, roles and responsibilities to the citizen and the encompassing environment of cities differ significantly. This can be addressed by identifying a set of GG indicators that are relevant to target cities, which would be used by the cities to implement programs and policies, and to measure progress and performance. Australia is situated in an environment somewhat disconnected from the rest of the world, which is home to unique biodiversity and vulnerable ecosystems. The regulatory and institutional framework of Australian cities is different to many other cities in the world in terms of their obligations to the community and the environment, and the level of law enforcement, particularly in areas that are relevant for GG. This paper reviews the available GG indicators in cities and assesses the applicability of those indicators against the regulatory and institutional framework of Australian cities. The application of the proposed set of indicators to the City of Melbourne and the City of Perth helped to validate the appropriateness of those indicators and to assess the performance of the cities in relation to GG. It appears that the cities are performing well in some areas and need improvement in others. The cities also need to mainstream the GG indicators and to align their data measurement and recording systems in line with the proposed GG indicators