About Cooling the Commons

Cooling the Commons commenced in 2014 when researchers at the Institute for Culture and Society (ICS) at Western Sydney University started to explore how urban heat was impacting on commons and the wellbeing of communities in Western Sydney. The pilot Cooling the Commons project emerged from discussions with Penrith City Council, who at the time were putting together their Urban Heat Strategy. The team became aware of a gap between the reporting of urban heat in Western Sydney, and the solutions, which at the time were primarily about mass tree planting. Whilst green (white and blue) infrastructures are extremely important, this approach seemed to bypass what communities living in Western Sydney were experiencing, saying and doing about urban heat, and unintentionally assumed that ‘solutions’ would not, or could not come from these communities.  To start to redress the imbalance, we won seed funding for our Pilot Report that captured rich qualitative data about how people are coping with the heat in Penrith City ­– their pain-points, strategies, and aspirations for a cooler future city, and the role of the commons in supporting this. This Report is part of WSROC’s Turn Down the Heat Strategy. You can read about this research and our findings in Projects.

Following this project, we commenced a collaboration with Landcom, the NSW Government developer to explore how our insights about cool commons (see Key Concepts) could support neighbourhood renewal projects, urban infill and greenfield development projects. We did a comprehensive international review of how cities around the world are adapting to urban heat and creating liveable city spaces, and explored how this knowledge could be implemented locally. The result was the deck of Cooling the Commons Patterns, which you can explore on this site. You can read our latest Report findings here.

In the next phase of our research, we are working with Community and Social Housing Providers to bring the Cooling the Commons approach to low-income communities across Sydney. This work builds upon our pilot study and as a first move we developed a brochure to help low-income communities make heat-adaptive changes in and around their own homes. We then consulted on the development of the Heat and Social Housing project with Wentworth, Hume and Evolve Community Housing, along with Hawkesbury and Penrith City Councils.  Watch this space for further developments about this and other project!

Key Concepts

Cool Commons: Commons are often understood as synonymous with public spaces. In this project, we follow the expanded view provided by J.K. Gibson­ Graham, Jenny Cameron and Stephen Healy (2013) in defining commons as ‘places, resources, practices and knowledges shared by a community’ (Gibson­ Graham et al., 2013). Cool Commons are places, resources, practices and knowledges that enable coolth in a warming city.

Commoning: lf commons are understood as resources shared amongst a community, commoning refers to the social practices and protocols that bring commons to life (Linebaugh 2009; Ostrom 2015; Gibson-Graham et al., 2013). A common does not exist without a community of commoners who access, use, benefit from and take responsibility for it.

Design Patterns: Patterns have a long history in architecture and urban design, and more recently in information systems. Our pattern format follows architect Christopher Alexander’s influential A Pattern Language (1977).  This volume describes enduring patterns that recur in architecture and urban design, which together compose a coherent and socially connected city. Like Alexander’s, our patterns make a connection between built and natural forms and social practices based on living examples. Patterns are, to quote (Helfrich & Bollier, 2019) ‘identified, not invented. Identifying them is meant to make something latent visible.’ The ability of humans to observe and learn from patterns contributes to our capacity to adapt and respond to a dynamic world. In our work we use the pattern language in two ways. First, to identify existing patterns that directly or indirectly diminish cool commons; and second, to identify existing patterns that are consistent with the ideal of a cool commons and can be transposed to new contexts. Our patterns are divided into ‘ideal’ patterns, which might be associated with a greenfield site and ‘remedial’ patterns, which might support the remediation or retrofit of an existing site. See the Pattern Deck.

Coolth: Coolth is the flipside of warmth; the feeling of a walk by the river, the relief of moving under shady canopy on a hot day, or even throwing open a window to catch a late afternoon breeze – these are examples of coolth. Rather than an objective measure of thermal comfort, we reclaim the term as an important indicator of the shared experience of feeling cool – not in enclosed, air-conditioned environments, but in the urban commons.

References

Alexander, C., Ishikawa, S., Silverstein, M., Jacobson, M., Fiksdahl-King, I., & Angel, S. (1977). A pattern language: Towns, buildings, construction (Center for Environmental Structure). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Gibson-Graham, J. K., Cameron, J., & Healy, S. (2013). Take back the economy : an ethical guide for transforming our communities Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.

Helfrich, S. & Bollier, D. (2019). Free, Fair and Alive: the insurgent power of the commons. Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Publishers.

Linebaugh, P. (2009). The Magna Carta manifesto: Liberties and commons for all. Berkeley and Los Angeles: Univ of California Press.

Ostrom, E. (2015). Governing the commons. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Meet the team

Helen Armstrong

Helen is an activist and Emeritus Professor of Landscape Architecture at Queensland University of Technology. Helen is a Landscape Architect and an expert on trees, biophysical and cultural landscapes. You can read more about Helen and her work here.

Louise Crabtree-Hayes

Louise is an Associate Professor in the Institute for Culture and Society. Louise is a Human Geographer and an expert on affordable and community-led housing. You can read more about Louise and her work here.

Katherine Gibson

Katherine is a Professor and Research Director at the Institute for Culture and Society. Katherine is an Economic Geographer and an expert in diverse political economies. You can read more about Katherine and her work here.

Stephen Healy

Stephen is a Senior Lecturer and Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Culture and Society at Western Sydney University. Stephen is a Geographer and an expert in community economies and socio-economic futures. You can read more about Stephen and his work here.

Abby Mellick Lopes

Abby is an Associate Professor of Design Studies at UTS and a research associate at the Design Innovation Research Centre. Abby is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Humanities and Communication Arts and an Associate of the Institute for Culture and Society, at Western Sydney University. Abby is a Design Theorist and an expert in sustainable and social design. You can read more about Abby and her work here.

Emma Power

Emma is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Social Sciences and Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University. Emma is a Human Geographer and an expert in ageing and housing policy and governance, and the politics of care. You can read more about Emma and her work here.

Cameron Tonkinwise

Cameron is Professor of Design Studies, Director of the Design Innovation Research Centre at UTS and Adjunct Professor in Transition Design at Carnegie Mellon University. Cameron is a Strategic Designer, Design Theorist and an expert in design leadership, service and transition design. You can read more about Cameron and his work here.