Shaping Melbourne's Future Town Planning, the State and Civil Society [Paperback]

This study examines the effects of town planning on the shape and structure of the Melbourne metropolitan area since 1945.This book shows that Melbournes planners have seldom achieved what they set out to do and describes the technocratic character of town planning in Victoria. It relates town planning and urban developments to the social and economic base which defines them, touching on the broader themes of history, sociology, geography and politics.This book shows that Melbournes planners have seldom achieved what they set out to do and describes the technocratic character of town planning in Victoria. It relates town planning and urban developments to the social and economic base which defines them, touching on the broader themes of history, sociology, geography and politics.Land use planning policy receives much public attention: we are constantly reading about the funding for infrastructure, the revitalisation of commercial centres, the rapid rate of urban decay, gentrification of the inner cities, and the problem of the expanding urban fringe. This study examines the effects of town planning on the shape and structure of the Melbourne metropolitan area since the Second World War. It shows that Melbourne's planners have seldom achieved what they set out to do and describes the technocratic character of town planning in Victoria. Shaping Melbourne's Future? relates town planning and urban developments to the social and economic base which defines them, touching on the broader themes of history, sociology, geography and politics.Part I. Introduction: 1. Melbourne in the early 1990s; 2. Approach to the study; Part II. The Evolution of Melbourne and its Planning: 3. An historical perspective; 4. The early days: depression, war and recovery; 5. The 'Long Boom' and the 1954 planning scheme; 6. Transition and turbulence in the 'Whitlam years'; 7. The recession bites; 8. Strategies for coping or recovery; 9. Urban change and planning, 19291990; Part III. Structure lƒ)