"The Capital of Australia" a Canberra Travel Page by Ramonq

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Canberra was chosen in 1911 to become Australia's capital city as a result of a squabble between Sydney and Melbourne in playing host to the politicians of the newly-Federated nation. With Solomon's wisdom, the founding fathers chose a spot that's located between the two feuding cities. Canberra is still evolving and anyone who arrives in the city is puzzled at the seemingly non-existent cohesiveness and the lack of traditional urbanity. Canberra is an overly-planned concentric city dotted with bush parks and neatly trimmed suburbs with the imposing Parliament House as its crowning glory. Canberra did not grow organically. Highly regulated, the city elders are concious of the fact that this is the bush capital where gum trees dominate the cityscape to reflect Australia's general topography.

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My work has led me to move to Canberra from Sydney and the city is a refreshing change from the hustle and bustle of Sydney. The wide well-paved roads are free-flowing and amazingly quiet. The city appears like a large botanic garden; and hidden behind the trees, are modern low-rise civic buildings that are miles apart from each other. Many visitors complain that Canberra is boring and lifeless, but Canberrans are quick to point out that they like it the way it is, because it's an excellent place to raise a family. Canberra is a suburban paradise for Australia's Commonwealth public servants. It's affluent and contented, and many Australians say that it's too contented to even realise the needs of the rest of the country. Hence, Canberra is derisively called the "ivory tower" of Australia.

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Parliament House

Canberra has two Parliament Houses. The old Parliament House has been transformed into a repository for Australian parliamentary history. Completed in 1926, it was only meant to be a provisional house until the permanent structure up on the hill is completed. It took 60 years to finally finish the new Parliament House and the politicians migrated to the new one during the Bicentennial anniversary of Australia in 1988. The new Parliament House is typically Canberran. Designed by a New York firm, it's mostly underground and it's covered by an vast expanse of greenery. The entrance is slightly above ground and the building is topped by a gigantic flagpole. The new Parliament completely dominates the Canberra skyline and it is to remain that way.

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The slow growth of Canberra

Canberra's design and layout was a result of an international competition. A Chicago architect, Burley Griffin won the competition and he was invited to develop the city from a pasture land that was donated by the New South Wales government. Not everything went well. The two world wars and the Great Depression, and Griffin's disagreements with the bureaucrats, caused most of Griffin's grandiose plans to be shelved, and for a while, Canberra remained an isolated dusty country town with only a provisional Parliament House and a few civic and commercial buildings to boast of. Few federal bureacrats were forced to set up in Canberra while the remainder were housed in Melbourne until their offices have been completed.

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The damming of Molonglo River in 1964 to create an artificial lake gave Canberra a new lease in life. The lake was named Lake Burley Griffin, after the original planner of Canberra. It made land-locked Canberra an attractive place to live. The prosperous 1960's transformed the place into a viable city where many of Griffin's original plans were realised. Many modern civic buildings were added into the city's landscape and transport and communication access were vastly improved. Canberra expanded and new suburbs were built to house the ever-growing public servants but bearing in mind that the city's bush ambience were to be maintained.

Canberra population is still small by world standards. It's close to 400,000 and growing. The population is generally young, educated and employed giving it the city with the highest living standards in Australia. To shed its image as a dour capital for public servants, the city is trying its best to be a cultural centre by setting up some of the most impressive collection of galleries and museums in the country. The city is now attracting non-government enterprises to set up shop there. Canberra also hosts different festivals and expositions to attract visitors and it is relaxing some council laws to liven up its sedate nightlife. I don't know if this will work, because the neighbours might complain. Australia is a nation of NIMBY's ("not in my backyard!" mentality)