Future Ready

After an absence of more than 60 years, significant volumes of freshwater is again flowing through the Te Awa o Ngātoroirangi / Maketu Estuary on the Bay of Plenty Coast in New Zealand. Mud crabs, tuangi (cockles), and titiko (mud snails) have all started to recolonize the area.

The Parklands Project is one of the largest urban renewal projects ever undertaken in Queensland and was one of Australia’s first build-to-rent developments – now known as The Smith Collective. From the outset, the developer (Grocon) and investors wanted to create a lasting legacy, shaped by the highest sustainability standards, for the community beyond delivering a world-class athletes’ village for 6,600 athletes and officials during the 2018 Commonwealth Games. The precinct, including the buildings, infrastructure and open space was created to enable reinvention as a healthy, accessible and resilient place for the Gold Coast community to live, work and play for years to come. 

A fast-growing town on the outskirts of Sydney is demonstrating that urbanization of greenfield areas need not be chaotic, strained, and unsustainable – and that it can accommodate the needs and wishes of existing and new residents. We worked with the local authority in Wollondilly Shire, to develop a strategy for urban development that makes sure that, as Wilton’s population expands, the health and wellbeing of its residents remains the central focus. Our proposals will prioritize social infrastructure, better transport connections, and stable and affordable housing, while maintaining connections with the town’s traditional farming roots through green space, healthy food, and biodiversity. 

Health and wellbeing is at the heart of our work with UK local authorities, replacing the decades-old obsession with single-occupancy car movement. Our street design guidance is helping councils create compact, sociable neighborhoods, while our active transportation advice seeks to take advantage of the cycling and walking boom since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The hope is that many of the lessons learnt will remain long after the pandemic subsides, and that we can respond positively to seismic shifts in how we use the spaces around us. This will enable us to promote healthier lifestyles and cater for diverse communities, while tackling carbon impacts. 

Ramona Gardens is in the top 1% of the most polluted communities in California. Residents suffer disproportionately high levels of respiratory diseases, with children suffering from asthma at twice the state average.  

On 31 March 2021, the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group – a group of 97 cities around the world – came together to demand historic levels of investment in public transport to ensure a green and just recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Underpinning this campaign was research carried out over a period of just two months by WSP’s team in Canada, which provided a solid evidence base to support the mayors of these cities in arguing for an injection of funds by national governments into their mass transit infrastructure. 

As people of all ages and abilities take to walking and cycling like never before, our project in Vaughan, Ontario, has proven that even existing, traffic-clogged roadways can be transformed to prioritize pedestrians and cyclists over motorists, with minimal impacts to existing landscaping. At Clark Avenue, WSP and the City of Vaughan took the bold decision to narrow the pavement to create a safe and comfortable walking and cycling corridor for the community. The result was improved safety for all, substantial cost savings, and a solution that could be rapidly implemented. Buoyed by its success, the local authority has decided to use this model elsewhere in the City. 

Flood control is an important issue in the Netherlands, as climate change leads to rising sea water levels and increasing discharge peaks of the Rhine River.

As a member of our Environment team, this beautiful, six-year-old Labrador Retriever may look like your average dog, but this former explosive detection dog is now trained to find the sources of chlorinated solvents that are wasted or improperly disposed of in natural and built environments. 

There is no doubt that greenhouse gas emissions have changed local weather patterns. The City of Calgary is proactively addressing climate change risks and potential adaptation actions.