Highlights
- We provide a detailed case study on Melbourne’s “Greening the West” initiative.
- Greening the West has resulted in an additional 1 million trees in Melbourne’s west.
- Demonstrates the important role water utilities can play in urban greening.
- We find that additional planning regulations are needed to protect greening.
Abstract
Melbourne’s “Greening the West” (GTW) initiative is a successful example of water utilities actively supporting urban greening through facilitating collaboration between stakeholders. GTW was convened by City West Water in 2011, to bring together 23 partner organisations to protect and enhance urban greening to support community wellbeing. This research involved interviews to determine how GTW works, its challenges, factors for success, achievements, areas for improvement, future directions, and implications. It is found that the existence of GTW has resulted in an additional one million trees planted in Melbourne’s western suburbs, and has caused a significant cultural shift within local government.
