How to green our cities without putting communities at risk of bushfire

Following the catastrophic summer we just had, I decided to write this article as I have been enthusiastically working in greening Sydney over the last few years to make our metropolitan areas more liveable, resilient to urban heat and biodiverse, yet I fear in some cases we may be increasing risk in areas within or near bush fire prone land. I contacted Catherine Ryland who had an instrumental role in preparing the latest version of Planning for Bushfire Protection and together we explored

1. how to achieve greener cities without creating additional bushfire risk and

2. measures to ensure urban greening and bushfire risk management policies, strategies, and regulations are not in conflict.

The article was published in The Fifth Estate 17 April 2020 and is accessible here

https://www.thefifthestate.com.au/urbanism/planning/how-to-green-our-cities-without-putting-communities-at-risk-of-bushfire/