The Foundation of Australian Seaport Capitals

Bibliographic Data

ID4042853
AuthorsJames Bird (0000-0002-1405-9930, corresponding author)
Year1965
Volume41
Issue4
Pages283
Publication date1965-10-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueEconomic Geography (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0013-0095 • E-ISSN: 1944-8287
PublisherJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/141941
OpenAlexW2318198093
LanguageEN
Citations received6

Ws yHERE written records are absent one can only guess at the initial considerations involved in the founding of a large city. The advantages and disadvantages of various sites as assessed by the first settlers may never be known. Even where the student feels he comes near to guessing the truth about the choice of site, he still may not be sure about the purpose of the first settlement. Sometimes he must ruefully admit that the first settlers simply may have chosen a site for an agricultural village and that the pioneers would probably stand amazed to see a modern commercial and political capital risen upon their primitive holdings. In Australia the study of the choices of sites for state capital cities is aided by the written records of the men who made the earliest decisions. These men were aware that the cities they were founding would be the largest settlements in their respective areas, although they could not realize how large those areas were to become. Today the six constituent states of the federated Commonwealth of Australia are governed from capitals which are also the largest cities adjacent to the largest seaports in each state. These cities were founded in the period from 1788 (Sydney) to 1837 (Adelaide and Melbourne), and, in the cases of Sydney, Hobart, and Perth, the man who chose the capital site was also the first governor of its tributary colony. Selecting from the relevant documents, and quoting wherever possible from the words of the founders, the reasons for choosing the site of each of the seaport capitals will be examined. In this intentionally rapid survey the reasons follow each other closely, and it will be seen that some common features emerge. A comparative review, which attempts to make these common features explicit, leads to the posing of a riddle. Why is it that the founders of these cities appear to have acted with infallible foresight? The central business districts of the Australian state capitals have arisen, and are rising still, upon sites that were chosen as regional centers by the first settlers before the surrounding country was fully explored. To have hit on the best spot for the heart -of a modern city before alternative sites in the surround

Foundation (evidence) · Political science · Law · Maritime Ports and Logistics

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