The post-war city

From a vantage point on the eve of the millennium and faced with acute global economic and environmental problems, the 1950s do indeed seem to be a ‘golden (economic) age’. This was a time in the history of global capitalism when optimism and economic growth were both high. Australia continued to be ruled by a hegemony of interests, of which land and urban development, including real estate and valuation, building and construction, road building, car manufacture, sales and repairs, were key parts. The chapter focuses on this constellation of interests had close connections to the state plans devised in the 1950s. Given the growth paradigm of the 1950s, it is not surprising that the decade saw the launch of several large and ambitious plans to cater for the future growth of the capital cities. © this collection Stephen Hamnett and Robert Freestone 2000.