State of the Environment 2011 (SoE 2011)
State of the Environment 2011 Committee. Australia state of the environment 2011.
Independent report to
the Australian Government Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities.
Canberra: DSEWPaC, 2011.
10 Built environment
3 Pressures affecting the built environment
At a glance
A range of pressures on the built environment have a high or very high impact. Pressures from the need for more space due to population growth, and increasing consumption due to a growing, increasingly wealthy population, are considered to be particularly significant. Traffic, pollution, extreme climate events and rising sea levels also place pressure on the livability and environmental efficiency of the built environment. Because the underlying drivers— population growth, economic growth and climate change—are all increasing, so too are the resultant pressures on the built environment.
The main drivers identified in Chapter 2 of this report—population growth, economic growth and climate change—lead to a number of pressures on the built environment:
- Population growth leads to
- increased urban footprint
- increased traffic
- increased pollution
- increased consumption.
- Economic growth leads to
- increased traffic
- increased pollution
- increased consumption.
- Climate change leads to
- increased extreme weather events
- increased sea levels.
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