Australia is one of the most heavily urbanised nations on earth. It also has an extraordinarily large concentration of its population in large metropolitan centres. This is surprising given Australia's reputation overseas (and its image of itself) as a country of wide-open spaces, laconic bushfolk and an economy built on rural industries and mining. This course will examine the history of the growth and development of city and suburban living in Australia. Theories and models of city development will be presented - the commercial city, the industrial city, the metropolis and the hinterland, ideal cities and garden suburbs, the post-modern city - and their applicability to the history of urban development in Australia explored. Themes to be examined will include: poverty, crime and corruption; the revolutions in public health, transport and communications; suburbia and domestic architecture; planning, city architecture, and high culture; settlement patterns, immigration, urban decay and urban rebirth.

To provide students with an understanding of the major controversies and historical debates surrounding urbanisation.

The following skills will be emphasized.

Critical Analysis:  To be able to read primary and secondary sources critically, perceive bias and possible omission and to filter information relevant to the proposed discussion or essay.

Argument Formation:  To be able to formulate an argument coherently and support it with primary and secondary evidence.

Group Work:  To be able to put forward an opinion in a group and also to be able to contribute to the formulation of a group opinion.

Writing Skills:  To write clearly and cogently on a given topic within a specified time and number of words. 

Research:  To gain a familiarity with the historiography of urbanisation and an appreciation of the primary sources available for research.

Tutorial participation (10%), 4,000 word essay (40%), optional 4,000 word essay or 2 hour exam (40%) and a floating 10%.

2 x 1 hour lectures, 1 x 1 hour tutorial.  Preparation time and essay research and writing will take an average 1.25 days a week over the 13 week semester.

Davison, G, The Rise and Fall of Marvellous Melbourne, MUP, 1996.