Search

Australian households are faced with rising energy costs and increasing occurrences of extreme weather events, such as hail storms and heat waves, due to the effect of climate change and influence of energy policies. Consequently, there has been increasing effort into designing homes and neighbourhoods that have built-in or retrofitted sustainable features such as solar panels to ensure that households are able to secure their own supply of electricity in times of shortages, as well as save on utility bills. The objective of this paper is to understand people’s preferences for characteristics of sustainable neighbourhoods and homes using a case study of 300 residents in Canberra, Australia. Findings from this survey suggest that housing affordability, energy saving designs for good temperature control, neighbourhood safety and cleanliness are the most desirable features of the neighbourhood and home across all socio-economic groups and buying intentions (i.e. investor or owner-occupier). The least preferred features are green facades (e.g. green roofs, green walls, large lawns) and communal bins rather than individual household ones. This information can be used to inform the design of future housing estates or suburb developments that want to pitch towards the ‘green’ consumer market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Changing climates and growing populations have prompted policy makers to shift to more climate resilient, technology-driven water sources, such as seawater desalination. Desalination is a prominent water resource in the Middle East but countries in other parts of the world with similar scarcity issues and good access to sea water, such as Australia, have been comparatively slow to adopt it. This paper explores attitudes to desalination in Perth, Western Australia, and the factors that influence its acceptance. We compared individuals’ acceptance of desalination over two time periods by using identical surveys administered in 2007 and 2012. We then examined the attitudinal factors – attitudes towards desalination and attitudes towards the environment – that influence acceptance. Acceptance of desalination was reasonably high and stable at both times (74% and 73% in 2007 and 2012 respectively). We found that respondents’ attitudes to perceived outcomes and benefits, fairness, environmental obligation and risk were important predictors of their acceptance of desalination in both surveys. However the weight given to these aspects varied over time. The findings show that there is still mixed community sentiment towards desalination, which helps to explain why acceptance has not increased since desalination was introduced in 2006. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Climate change is exacerbating an ever increasing demand on Perth''s traditional water sources. One of these water sources is the Gnangara Groundwater System (GGS). Land uses above the Groundwater System directly affects water infiltration and subsequent aquifer recharge and, as such, need to be carefully considered to ensure future water supply security for Perth. Community acceptance has been demonstrated to be an integral component of effective land use planning. The psychological concept of Sense of Place (incorporating the notions of identity, attachment and dependence) can be used to predict intention to accept or reject land use planning decisions. Results from a Sense of Place study indicated that three distinct constructs emerge, which are the cognitive, emotional and behavioural bonds with places on the GGS. Sense of Place is not limited to only people who live in the GGS area but to all Perth people. Findings from this study defy the traditional assumption that Sense of Place is dependant to some extent on proximity to the location. The policy implication is that social boundaries can extend beyond geographical or management boundaries of a place. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]