Presentation delivered at the State of Australian Cities Conference (SOAC) in 2021

1. URBAN DESIGN SOLUTIONS FOR
AMELIORATING URBAN HEAT
ISLAND IN IPSWICH, QUEENSLAND
Dr Silvia Tavares, University of the Sunshine Coast
BASC Lab – Bioclimatic and Sociotechnical Cities Lab
Professor Karine Dupré, Griffith University
Brodie Smith, Ipswich City Council
Samantha Smith, Ipswich City Council
I acknowledge the Gubbi Gubbi people who are
the traditional owners of the land from where I
am delivering this presentation. I also pay my
respects to the Elders, past, present and future.

2. OBJECTIVES
To identify possible solutions to mitigate UHI and other undesirable
climate change-related impacts.
This 3-year project has three key objectives:
• Provide an evidence-based analysis of urban microclimate in key
areas of Ipswich.
• Provide an urban design analysis that relates the identified urban
microclimate and possible UHIs with design solutions.
• Provide insights into the relationships between people’s
experience of place and their microclimates

3. CASE STUDY | Ipswich, Queensland

4. (1) urban design analysis: street Aspect Ratio (AR), Sky View Factor (SVF), existing
vegetation and water body, materials, and percentage of open areas.
(2) climate analysis (air temperature and relative humidity): measured along the
selected streets from the 24th of February 2021 to 14th of July 2021 with installed
sensors
(3) survey data collected through questionnaire and interviews to capture residents’
perception of different areas of the City of Ipswich and their microclimates
RESEARCH DESIGN

5. Bell Street
URBAN DESIGN ANALYSIS | Case study sites

6. Limestone/Brisbane Street
URBAN DESIGN ANALYSIS | Case study sites

7. Joy Chambers Circuit
URBAN DESIGN ANALYSIS | Case study sites

8. Recommendations
Due to the small street AR and large SVF, there is a significant
need for shade structures along the sidewalks. Overall, this area
requires:
• More tree canopy coverage to reduce the temperature by
providing shading during the daytime and increasing
moisture
• and/or more awnings
• More water (e.g. fountains) to reduce the heat
Aspect ratio
The area in Reg Grundy Street is 0.22, the rest have an
open field either on one side or both sides of the street
Vegetation
25% of the open area vegetation, 35% of the open area
soil
Impervious surfaces 40% of the open area
Open areas 84% of the studied area
Waterbody
Bundamba Creek on the east side of the site, but not in
the studied area
Façade materiality
70% Concrete
30% Brick
Roofs materiality All Metallic
Awnings N/A
SVF 0.8
URBAN DESIGN ANALYSIS | Results
Joy Chambers Circuit

9. a. dry grass b. white concrete c. new asphalt d. concrete tile in shadow
URBAN DESIGN ANALYSIS | Results

10. Acknowledgement of
Country
We acknowledge the people
who are the Traditional
Custodians of the Land on
which this project stands. We
pay respect to the Elders,
past, present and emerging,
and extends that respect to
other Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander Peoples.
Bell Street Limestone/Brisbane Street Joy Chambers Circuit
Aspect ratio
80% is 0.63 and lower, 20% is
0.87
0.37 on average
The area in Reg Grundy
Street is 0.22, the rest have
an open field either on one
side or both sides of the
street
Vegetation
3% of the open area
vegetation, 4% of the open
area soil
8% of the open area
vegetation
25% of the open area
vegetation, 35% of the open
area soil
Impervious
surfaces
93% of the open area 92% of the open area 40% of the open area
Open areas 48% of the studied area 50% of the studied area 84% of the studied area
Waterbody
Bremer river at the end of the
street, but not in the studied
area
N/A
Bundamba Creek on the east
side of the site, but not in the
studied area
Façade
materiality
32% Glass
46% Concrete
11% Brick
11% Metal
28% Glass
16% Concrete
14% Brick
42% Composite panels/Metal
70% Concrete
30% Brick
Roofs
materiality
8% Metallic
92% Concrete
19% Metallic
81% Concrete
All Metallic
Awnings 48% of the sidewalk 66% of the sidewalk 0
SVF 0.6 on average 0.8 0.8
Despite few differences in
aspect ratio and proximity to
waterbodies, Bell and
Limestone/Brisbane Streets
show many similarities in
their urban design features.
Joy Chambers Circuit
presents the feature of an
early urbanisation stage.
However, heat mitigation
was not implemented in this
early stage. This could be
avoided for any new
development.
URBAN DESIGN ANALYSIS | Results

11. • Sensors’ locations were determined with
the input of Ipswich City Council staff
• Sensors were fixed at the height of 2.5 -
3.5m on lamp poles.
• Sensors were calibrated and installed on
February 24th and 25th, 2021.
URBAN CLIMATE ANALYSIS

12. This analysis is done in three stages:
• Analysis of Humidex for all data of all sensors
• Comparison of sensor data and BoM data (maximum and
minimum temperatures) for February and March available data
(hottest months of the data collection period).
• Initial analysis of possible strategies to improve microclimates,
using a psychrometric chart.
URBAN CLIMATE ANALYSIS

13. Acknowledgement of
Country
We acknowledge the people
who are the Traditional
Custodians of the Land on
which this project stands. We
pay respect to the Elders,
past, present and emerging,
and extends that respect to
other Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander Peoples.
The sensors collect temperature and
relative humidity
Humidex combines temperature and
humidity into one index to reflect how
hot, humid the weather feels to the
average person (the perceived
temperature).
URBAN CLIMATE ANALYSIS | Humidex

14. • One day (2 March 2021) on Brisbane St conditions
considered dangerous for human health (which start at
Humidex =45.
• During this period all sensors recorded at least ‘great
discomfort’ condition (Humidex between 40 and 45).
• Humidex higher than 40 indicates severe thermal
discomfort and this was found in all 3 sites in March 2nd,
2021.
URBAN CLIMATE ANALYSIS | Humidex

15. Sensor 571 (Brisbane St)
URBAN CLIMATE ANALYSIS | Comparison to BoM

16. Sensor 573 (Joy Chambers Circuit)
URBAN CLIMATE ANALYSIS | Comparison to BoM

17. Sensor 571
Brisbane St
Sensor 574
Bell St
Sensor 573
Joy Chambers
Circuit
URBAN CLIMATE ANALYSIS | Possible Strategies
Most appropriate design solutions for these areas are:
• Enhance ventilation/breezes
• Use cool materials
• As the humidity is already high, the technique of reducing the heat by
increasing the humidity (evapotranspiration) with fountains and water bodies
won’t be much efficient
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18. Based on Humidex analysis
• ‘Great discomfort’ (Humidex between 40 and 45) has been recorded for all locations even without extreme heat or
heatwave events.
• One of the sensors (571 in Brisbane Street) recorded conditions considered dangerous (Humidex >45).
• Considering climate is getting warmer and heatwaves more frequent, this is increasingly a problem to be addressed to
ensure population remains safe when general climatic conditions are very hot.
Comparison to BoM data
• While the daytime maximum temperatures recorded by Sensor 571 in Brisbane St are very similar to the maximum
temperatures recorded by BoM’s Amberley weather station, the minimum temperatures (recorded overnight) by the
same sensor are consistently higher than BoM’s.
• The area is not cooling overnight as much as the open/rural surroundings, indicating propensity to form UHI during
heatwaves.
Initial analysis of possible UD strategies
• Most days are in ‘humid zone’ meaning increasing humidity will not add much for cooling through evaporation.
• The ideal approach seems, so far, to be to focus on cool materials and increased breeze corridors.
• For best response during extreme hot events and heatwaves, other strategies will need to be adopted in conjunction
with these ones already identified.
PRELIMINARY CONCLUSIONS

19. Thank you!
Silvia Tavares – stavares@usc.edu.au
BASC Lab – www.usc.edu.au/basclab