A history of Canberra- From Griffin to Griffin legacy

The Federation of Australian states under the constitution in 1901 led to the birth of Canberra. Instead of making Sydney or Melbourne the Capital, it was decided a separate territory would be created in 1908. A competition was created for the plan of Canberra, which was won by Walter Burley Griffin and his wife Catherine Mahoney in 1913. The original plan  is shown below. It incorporates two major planning trends of the time, Daniel Burham’s "City Beautiful" and Ebenezer Howard’s "Garden city" ideals. Griffin explained his city design as "I have planned a city not like any other city in the world... I have planned an ideal city-a city that meets my ideals of the city of the future", Griffin 1912.

Unfortunately much of Griffin's plan was not undertaken due to the politics of the time. The 1919 plan bellow shows the amendments to the plan.

As time went on, new master plans evolved. Each plan encapsulated the new planning theories and practice of the times. The 1965- The future Canberra plan , Saw the extension of the boundaries of Canberra in order to cope with a growing population. It extended it both to the south and to the north. This plan saw the development of large arterial roads and looping suburbs, instead of gridded streets. This was a common practice of planning of the time which was seen in American cities such as Los Angeles

The 1970 “Y plan” and the 1984 “Metropolitan Policy” plan continued to fuse on the growing boundaries of the growing city. It continued to grow the transport network through all the town centres.

The current plan, the Griffin legacy of 2004 goes back to the basics of the original plan. It is about consolidating the major town centres and providing mix use and density along the transport corridors. It tries to go back to ensuring Canberra remains a Garden city,

“Canberra achieves the difficult feat of being one of the last cities beautiful.  And also the World’s biggest Garden City” Hall, 2002.

The question is how can Canberra continue to be a Garden city into the future? How will future planning ensure this?

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