Bushfire Urban Planning

This subject is not offered in 2014.

100 - 120 hours

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

This subject sets out the key mechanisms by which land use planning can reduce the risks associated with human settlements located in bushfire prone areas. It begins with an overview of bushfire as a natural hazard that occurs in particular landscapes, and the ways that human settlements interact with these to result in spatial and locally particular risk outcomes.

The ways that urban planning mechanisms can influence risk levels in bushfire prone areas are explored. First principles of planning intervention techniques are set out, followed by a detailed explanation of relevant elements of Victorian planning processes. Current regulatory approaches suitable for the treatment of bushfire risk in Victoria are a core learning outcome for the subject, in parallel with developing understandings of the inter-relations between building, planning, response and land management agencies related to bushfire risk reduction.

Students who successfully complete this course will:

• Understand basic concepts of interaction between bushfire prone landscapes and urban areas;
• Understand fundamental principles of planning approaches to reduction of bushfire risk;
• Be able to use the relevant components of the Victorian planning system to reduce bushfire risk, understanding the relationship with relevant extant building regulations;
• Understand the relationships between bushfire risk treatments and approaches, and other goals such as ecological and heritage values; and,
• Be able to prepare a bushfire risk statement and undertake a bushfire attack level (BAL) assessment as appropriate.

• Written assignment (1000 words) due prior to commencement of intensive (20%)
• Four in-class worksheets (equivalent to 2000 words total) due throughout intensive (40%)
• Final written assignment (2000 words) due 3 weeks after completion of intensive (40%)

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.