There is potential to improve the quality of selected existing open spaces in the City by:

• increasing the diversity of facilities to appeal to everyone in the community to encourage everyone to exercise, socialise and improve their fitness and health
• improving maintenance of open spaces, e.g. open grassed areas remain useable all year
• improving care and maintenance of mature canopy trees
• identifying opportunities to create multi-use spaces that are shared and adaptable, minimising the provision of single-use facilities
• activate open spaces that are currently underutilised
• strengthen the biodiversity and habitat values of open spaces.

As an established inner-urban municipality, the City of Yarra is experiencing significant change and growth. The strategy has identified and prioritised a series of new open spaces, with priority given to locations where higher levels of growth is forecast. Additional open spaces have been identified based on:

• areas where existing open space is experiencing high levels of use or over-use. This includes providing new open space to take the pressure off existing spaces to meet everyone’s needs
• gaps in the provision of any open space
• medium and high-density precincts where substantial change is forecast and the new community will require additional open space
• where providing green open space in medium and high density precincts will assist to mitigate the urban heat island effect.

• Where feasible, open space will be well distributed through high-density precincts and feature natural features such as large canopy trees and planted surfaces that absorb moisture. This will offset some impacts of increased urban heat, which is exacerbated by high-density development, particularly multi-level buildings.
• Future open spaces within high-density precincts will aim to irrigate from sustainable water sources, for example stormwater harvesting and re-use.
• Existing and future open spaces will be large enough to sustainably grow large broad canopy trees that are effective at evapo-transpiration, which assists urban cooling.
• Create adaptable open spaces that allow sunlight and warmth during the winter months and excellent shade and cooling in the summer. The cool spaces will provide comfortable, free outdoor spaces for the community to retreat to during periods of extended heat.

Research confirms that a linked and accessible open space network that people can easily walk to improves community health and wellbeing. The community is more likely to visit open space if it is nearby. This offers a range of benefits, including:

• physical fitness by walking, cycling, jogging, informal ball sports and using fitness equipment
• physical fitness by participating in organised sport
• places to exercise dogs on and off-leash.
• social connectedness and sense of belonging to the community by creating places to meet
• children are more likely to visit and play in open space independently of their parents if it is located within 150 to 300 metres of where they live. This improves their self-confidence and physical development
• relax and unwind in green open space. Research demonstrates that nature contributes to our ability to relax.

The United Nationals Sustainable Development Goal 11.7 aims to achieve the following: By 2030, provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible green and public spaces, in particular for women and children, older persons and persons with disabilities. The strategy aims to achieve this through:

• identifying gap areas in which new open space is needed so that everyone can easily access open space
• including design guidelines that encourage natural features in the design of existing and new open space, particularly in medium and high density precincts
• including recommendations to achieve good winter sunlight access to open space
• including design guidelines that promote universal access, diversity and inclusion in the design of upgrades to existing open space and new open space
• strengthening the natural biodiversity values of open space, including the use of native and indigenous vegetation where appropriate to the local context and cultural heritage values
• using mature and new large, broad spreading canopy trees for effective evapo-transpiration, shade and habitat
• promoting the irrigation of open space from sustainable water sources to support natural turf and garden beds where possible.