Urban Cooling Strategy

Extreme heat and heatwaves have a major impact on the health and wellbeing of the community and the productivity of the economy.

Kingston's Urban Cooling Strategy sets out our vision of a Cool Kingston; a municipality with no urban heat islands. It is a community that actively manages the impacts of urban heat on people and the environment through decisions that encourage urban cooling.

Goals and actions have been developed across 5 strategic areas:

1. Urban Greening - Increase vegetation cover across Kingston, including tree canopy.
2. Planning and Building - Incorporate urban heat mitigation principles and elements in planning and building decisions.
3. Cool Council buildings and assets - Adopt the use of cool materials in Council buildings and assets.
4. Emergency and health response - Support community members who are vulnerable to heat to develop the skills, knowledge and support networks to reduce the impacts of extreme heat.
5. Education, engagement and partnerships - Improve staff, community and stakeholders' understanding of the impact of extreme heat and how they can make decisions that mitigate heat through greening, cool materials and behaviours.