![\"Damon](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Damon_Nagel.jpg\")
<\/p>\nUnderscoring the increasing prominence of nature in the property sector, an Adelaide developer has said that when he dies he\u2019ll be remembered more for his parks than his buildings. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Speaking at The Urban Developer\u00a0nature based cities roundtable in Adelaide this month, Kite Projects managing director Damon Nagel said designing with nature was a big passion of his.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve delivered over 120,000sq m of public open space across two developments,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think, ironically, when I die I\u2019ll be remembered for my parks, not my buildings.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nagel said Kite\u2019s Hamilton Hill project at the foot of the Adelaide hills (pictured top) was \u201can absolute legacy\u201d.<\/p>\n
The development retains a 6ha park with walking and cycling trails leading to the adjacent Morialta conservation park.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u25b2 Damon Nagel told the Adelaide roundtable that Kite had provided more than 120,000sq m of open space across two developments.<\/p>\n
At the roundtable, advisory council member of the not-for-profit Nature Based Cities organisation Jan Talacko said there had been a big focus in the past 15 years on reducing carbon emissions from development, particularly from buildings.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut, certainly from a development perspective, we don\u2019t think we\u2019ve had enough focus on protecting nature and re-establishing nature in cities, and so this initiative is really to try and redress, to some extent, that balance, that we need both of those things to be working,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo about four and a half years ago, we got together to start talking about this as an issue, and Nature Based Cities was set up to increase the amount of green space, improve biodiversity, integrate living landscapes into developments.\u201d<\/p>\n
Talacko said that in 2022 Australia signed up to the global biodiversity framework at the United Nations\u2019 biodiversity conference in Montreal.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s got a whole range of targets about biodiversity and species protection, and there is a specific target about increasing the quality of urban spaces and biodiversity in cities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNature Based Cities is firmly aligned with the federal government\u2019s vision, and it seems like that hasn\u2019t really trickled down to the regulations and policies or frameworks, so we think [we can] assist in doing that.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe initial focus of our efforts has been on residential development, initially medium and high-density development, but now [we have] launch[ed a] precinct scorecard for master planned communities.\u201d<\/p>\n
The scorecard for masterplanned communities, launched earlier this month, is for precinct-level greenfield or brownfield projects. The new scorecard puts a premium on retaining existing site features including the ecology, hydrology, landform, soil, geology and biodiversity.<\/p>\n
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\u25b2 Nature Based Cities advisory council members Janis Fischer and Jan Talacko at the roundtable.<\/p>\n
Delivering a presentation on the scorecard for medium and high-density development, Nature Based Cities advisory council member Janis Fischer said that, after some initial independent research, the organisation started mapping out a list of targets developers would be able to achieve if they designed with nature in mind.<\/p>\n
And that evolved into a scorecard.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can actually use this document as a way the development team can set their targets right from the start of the project and then they can use it once they\u2019ve done their initial design to see how they\u2019re performing against all the nature criteria,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The scorecard has 10 criteria\u2014including views to green space, preservation of existing trees, planting of new trees, amount of canopy coverage and biodiversity\u2014that are aligned to other rating tools.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of developers will also be doing green star buildings or other rating tools and you\u2019re able to achieve your one or two points for Nature Based Cities but also you can use that towards your green star rating,\u201d Fischer said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a fairly simple process and we\u2019ve been offering it for free to the early adopters so there\u2019s no cost involved [for them] apart from any consultant time that might be required.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd if you are accredited then you receive the rights to use the Nature Based Cities logos on your marketing material.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Janis](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/FrankieTheCreative-AdelaidePhotographer-TheUrbanDeveloper-Tues2June-134.jpg\")
\u25b2 Janis Fischer said accredited developers would be able to use the Nature Based Cities logos on their marketing material.<\/p>\n
Fischer said developers did not need to score a point in every category of the scorecard to gain accreditation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe minimum that we ask you to do is retain anything that is significant on the site and then you can gain points in the other categories,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She said that research commissioned by Nature Based Cities from Urbis found developers could achieve a large premium on apartment and home prices if projects incorporated a park or other suitable green space.<\/p>\n
Further research, by Ark Resources, found that Australia\u2019s existing ESD rating tools did not place sufficient emphasis on nature.<\/p>\n
Developers interested in learning more about Nature Based Cities\u2019 scorecards can visit naturebasedcities.org.au<\/a><\/p>\n