ABSTRACT
Chapter 5 examines urban growth in the nineteenth century. Australia grew around its port cities, which quickly expanded across traditional Aboriginal country. While some settlers moved inland, seasonal rural work failed to support large populations. People gravitated to the cities. Of all Australian cities, Melbourne prospered the most from trade in wool and the discovery of gold; it impressed overseas visitors as a modern, resplendent city. Close to the city centres, housing and factories sprung up for workers employed in manufacturing, building and retail services. Further out were suburbs for the middle classes, linked to the centre by roads and rail. City and suburbs benefited from reticulated water (improving sanitation) and electricity replaced the old gas lights. For many, suburbia, with its clean low-density living, came to represent the quintessential Australian way of life. Australia’s climate and standard of living promoted higher life expectancy and lower infant mortality. The labour movement vigorously supported the manly (white) worker. But was Australia really the ‘working man’s paradise’? Inevitably, after the boom came the bust, exacerbated by drought.
