An historical geography of recreational land use in the Perth metropolitan area, 1829-1969

Within urban geography there is an increasing interest in aspects of recreation, particularly in terms of the access to, and use of, physical resources. As tourism and leisure begin to play a much bigger part in the urban economy it is expected that such studies will provide an important guide for future development. All of this disguises the fact that, in western cities, at least, by far the greater intensity of research effort has focused on „hard elements of urban structure, such as housing, land-use, industry and commerce. Moreover, very little of the research on recreation has focused on the historical evolution of public open space within an urban setting. At work there is a subtle interplay of factors involving physical resources, legislation, civic leaders, planning ideals, land ownership and sheer accidents of history. This study attempts to fill the lacunae by looking at a city, Perth, Western Australia, with superb physical attributes, isolated from competing influences and a climate in which the resources can be used to the full. It considers the period between initial colonisation and 1969. This thesis, therefore, is a pioneer attempt to explain the evolution, distribution and design of spaces set aside for recreation and leisure.