$6.8m joint venture launches series of projects to help Darwin beat the heat

THE CSIRO has launched a series of projects to cool down the City of Darwin area as part of a $6.8m collaboration with the federal, Territory and local governments.

• Darwin could be a world leader on city cooling strategies, new CSIRO studies find

THE CSIRO has launched a series of projects to cool down the City of Darwin area as part of a $6.8m collaboration with the federal, Territory and local governments.

The joint initiative, known as the Darwin Living Lab, comes as scientists predict what is already one of the country’s hottest cities will get significantly hotter over the next decade.

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The 10-year collaboration is funded by the CSIRO ($2.2m), federal government ($2.6m), NT government ($1m) and City of Darwin ($1m) under the Darwin City Deal.

The new projects include creating a “digital twin” of Darwin – a virtual replica of the city for modelling potential cooling and greening initiatives, and for providing real-time temperature data for different parts of Darwin through an app, using the local government’s existing smart sensor system.

The Darwin CBD at the end of the 2020 dry season. Picture: Che Chorley

The Lab will also conduct focus groups to learn how people use green spaces in Darwin, collate Larrakia biodiversity knowledge to ensure cooling and greening initiatives stay true to the city’s character, and implement a three-year evaluation process of its work – a series of projects expected to cost a combined $470,000 in 2021.

CSIRO Darwin Living Lab project director and engineer Nerida Horner said heat mitigation was becoming increasingly important in Darwin as climate change projections showed it faced a significantly higher number of days above 35C by 2030.

“As the climate warms, that change will be particularly felt in Darwin,” she said.

“Darwin has a strong interest in seeing effective heat mitigation applied across the city, to ensure it remains a place that’s comfortable and liveable and desirable for residents and visitors.”

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Acting Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics Minister Natasha Fyles said the projects would help inform how heat mitigation could play a “critical” role in Darwin’s urban revitalisation and liveability.

It also comes after the NT government spent $8000 on a University of NSW study to determine whether the CBD’s infamous Cavenagh Street shade structure was making the area cooler, despite its vines having barely grown two years after they were planted.