Living Melbourne: Our Metropolitan Urban Forest Strategy was launched in 2019 to guide coordinated greening across Greater Melbourne in response to urban heat, biodiversity loss, and climate pressures. As part of the Priority Urban Greening initiative, the strategy aims to direct investment to areas where it will have the greatest social and environmental benefit.

Mosaic Insights and Natural Capital and Climate supported this initiative by developing city-scale estimates of the costs and benefits of urban greening. The analysis provides an evidence base for funding bids at various scales and supports decision-making on priority investments.

Using advanced spatial analytics and innovative tree costing tools, the project assessed the cost-effectiveness of greening to:

• Reduce urban heat for vulnerable communities
• Protect biodiversity and enhance habitat
• Cool public open spaces
• Improve waterway health
• Identify opportunities for integrated water management.

This work strengthens the business case for strategic, climate-resilient urban greening across Melbourne.