melbourne australia

Melbourne (pronounced /ˈmelbən/) is the more common name for the geographic region and statistical division of the Greater Melbourne^[3] metropolitan area. It is the second most populous city in Australia, with a population of approximately 3.8 million (2007 estimate) and serves as the state capital of Victoria.^[1] Melbourne is located on the lower reaches of the Yarra River and on the northern and eastern shorelines of Port Phillip and their hinterland.

A tiny pastoral town established by settlers from Van Diemen's Land around the estuary of the Yarra (47 years after the first European settlement of Australia)^[4] was rapidly transformed into a wealthy metropolis by the Victorian gold rush and immigration. By 1865, Melbourne had become Australia's largest and most important city, and by the 1880s one of the largest and richest in the world.^[5][6][7]

Many international and national conferences and events have been held in Melbourne, including the 1956 Summer Olympics and the 2006 Commonwealth Games, the 1981 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting^[8] the World Economic Forum in 2000, and the 2006 G20 summit.^[9]

The city is a major centre of commerce, education, tourism, the arts and cultural activities, and also industry. It is consistently ranked one of the most liveable cities in the world.^[10][11][12] The city is recognised as Australia's 'sporting and cultural capital'^[13] and it is home to many of the nation's most significant cultural and sporting events and institutions. It has been recognised as a gamma world city by the Loughborough University group's 1999 inventory.^[14] Melbourne is notable for its mix of Victorian and contemporary architecture, its extensive tram network and Victorian parks and gardens, as well as its diverse, multicultural society.^[15]

Early history and foundation

Before the arrival of European settlers, the area was occupied for an estimated 31,000 to 40,000 years^[16] by under 20,000^[17] hunter-gatherers from three indigenous regional tribes: the Wurundjeri, Boonwurrung and Wathaurong, for at least 31,000 years.^[18] The area was an important meeting place for clans and territories of the Kulin nation alliance as well as a vital source of food and water.^[4][19] The first European settlement in Victoria was established in 1803 on Sullivan Bay, near present-day Sorrento, but this settlement was abandoned due to a perceived lack of resources. It would be 30 years before another settlement was attempted.^[20]

In May and June 1835, the area that is now central and northern Melbourne was explored by John Batman, a leading member of the Port Phillip Association, who negotiated a transaction for 600,000 acres (2,400 km²; 940 sq mi) of land from eight Wurundjeri elders.^[4][19] Batman selected a site on the northern bank of the Yarra River, declaring that "this will be the place for a village", and returned to Launceston in Tasmania (then known as Van Diemen's Land). However, by the time a settlement party from the Association arrived to establish the new village, a separate group led by John Pascoe Fawkner had already arrived aboard the Enterprize and established a settlement at the same location, on 30 August 1835. The two groups ultimately agreed to share the settlement.

Batman's Treaty with the Aborigines was annulled by the New South Wales government (then governing all of eastern mainland Australia), which compensated the Association.^[4] Although this meant the settlers were now trespassing on Crown land, the government reluctantly accepted the settlers' fait accompli and allowed the town (known at first by various names, including 'Bearbrass'^[4]) to remain.

In 1836, Governor Bourke declared the city the administrative capital of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales, and commissioned the first plan for the Hoddle Grid in 1837.^[21] Later that year, the settlement was named Melbourne after the British prime minister William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, who resided in the village of Melbourne in Derbyshire. Melbourne was declared a city by letters patent of Queen Victoria, issued on 25 June 1847.^[22] The Port Phillip District became a separate colony of Victoria in 1851 with Melbourne as its capital.

Before the arrival of white settlers, the indigenous population in the district was estimated at 15,000, but following settlement the number had fallen to less than 800,^[23] and continued to decline with an estimated 80% decrease by 1863, due primarily to introduced diseases, particularly smallpox.^[24]

Victorian gold rush

The discovery of gold in Victoria in the 1850s led to the Victorian gold rush, and the rapid growth of the city, which provided most service industries and served as the major port for the region. During the optimistic 1850s and 1860s, the construction of many of Melbourne's institutional buildings began, including Parliament House, the Treasury Buildings, the State Library, Supreme Court, University, General Post Office, and Government House, as well as St Paul's and St Patrick's cathedrals. The city's inner suburbs were planned, to be linked by boulevards and gardens. Melbourne had become a major finance centre, home to several banks and to Australia's first stock exchange in 1861.^[25]

The Land Boom and Bust

By the 1880s, Melbourne's boom was peaking. The city had become the second largest in the British Empire (after London)^[26], and the richest in the world.^[27] During this prosperous decade, Melbourne hosted five international exhibitions in the large purpose-built Exhibition Building. Melbourne served as the seat of the federal government from the time of the new nation's federation in 1901.^[28] Federal government was gradually migrated to Canberra and Melbourne's size and importance was overtaken by Sydney early in the 20th Century.

During an 1885 visit, English journalist George Augustus Henry Sala coined the phrase "Marvellous Melbourne", which stuck long into the twentieth century. Growing building activity culminated in the "Land Boom" which in 1888 reached a peak of speculative development fuelled by optimism and escalating property prices. As a result of the boom, high-rise offices, commercial buildings, coffee palaces, terrace housing and palatial mansions proliferated in the city.^[29] Subsequent development (assisted by council fire regulations) has seen most of the taller CBD buildings and larger mansions from this era demolished, though Victorian architecture still abounds in Melbourne. This period also saw the expansion of a major radial rail-based transport network.^[30]

The brash boosterism which typified Melbourne during this time came to a halt in 1891 when the start of a severe depression hit the city's economy, sending the local finance and property industries into chaos^[29][31] during which 16 small banks and building societies collapsed and 133 limited companies went into liquidation. The Melbourne financial crisis helped trigger the Australian economic depression of 1890s and the Australian banking crisis of 1893. The effects of the depression on the city were profound, although it did continue to grow slowly during the early twentieth century.^[32][33]

Federation of Australia

At the time of Australia's federation on 1 January 1901, Melbourne became the temporary seat of government of the federation. The first federal parliament was convened on 9 May 1901 in the Royal Exhibition Building, where it was located until 1927, when it was moved to Canberra. The governor-general remained at Government House until 1930 and many major national institutions remained in Melbourne well into the twentieth century.^[34] While Sydney had overtaken Melbourne in size, Melbourne's transport networks were more extensive. Flinders Street Station was the world's busiest passenger station in 1927 and Melbourne's tram network overtook Sydney's to become the worlds largest in the 1940s. During World War II, Melbourne industries thrived on wartime production and the city became Australia's leading manufacturing centre.^{[citation needed]}

Post-war period

After the war, Melbourne expanded rapidly, its growth boosted by an influx of immigrants and the prestige of hosting the Olympic Games in 1956. The post-war period saw a major urban renewal of the CBD and St Kilda Road which significantly modernised the city.^[35] To counter the trend towards low-density suburban residential growth, the government began a series of controversial "slum reclamation" public housing projects in the inner city which resulted in demolition of many neighbourhoods and a proliferation of high-rise housing-commission towers.^[36] In later years, increasing motor traffic led to major freeway development, causing the city to sprawl outwards. Under premier Henry Bolte, road projects including the Eastern Freeway, Monash Freeway, Tullamarine Freeway and the remodelling of St Kilda Junction changed the face of the city.

Australia's financial and mining booms between 1969 and 1970 resulted in establishment of the headquarters of many major companies (BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, among others) in the city. Nauru's then booming economy fuelled several ambitious investments in Melbourne, such as Nauru House. Melbourne remained Australia's business and financial capital until the late 1970s, when it began to lose this primacy to Sydney.^[37]

As the centre of Australia's "rust belt", Melbourne experienced the worst of Victoria's economic slump between 1989 to 1992, following the collapse of several of its financial institutions. In 1992 the newly elected Kennett Coalition government began a campaign to revive the economy with an aggressive development campaign of public works centred on Melbourne and the promotion of the city as a tourist destination with a focus on major events and sports tourism, attracting the Australian Grand Prix to the city. Major projects included the Melbourne Museum, Federation Square, the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre, Crown Casino and CityLink tollway. Other strategies included the privatisation of some of Melbourne's services, including power and public transport, but also a reduction in funding to public services such as health and education.^[38]

Contemporary Melbourne

Since 1997, Melbourne has maintained significant population and employment growth. There has been substantial international investment in the city's industries and property market. Major inner-city urban renewal has occurred in areas such as Southbank, Port Melbourne, Melbourne Docklands and, more recently, South Wharf.

Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that Melbourne sustained the highest population increase and economic growth rate of any Australian capital cit