The improvement of Sydney : infrastructure and administration 1900-20

Abstract

This thesis is an examination of the changes and plans for changes in the physical structure of Sydney 1900-20. The thesis focuses upon the seminal Royal Commission for the Improvement of the City of Sydney and its Suburbs 1909 and culminates in the pioneering Local Government Act 1919. The role of recent innovations in technology, including steel, reinforced concrete, and electricity, are given much attention, and the evolution of the political administration under the weight of the changes occurring in the city and suburbs is narrated throughout. The thesis is divided into four sections. The first section deals with the construction and the planning of the public transport system, including the North Shore Bridge. The second section deals with the reconstruction of some of the older infrastructure, including the port, and water and sewerage facilities. The third section is an account of the exploitation of the new technology by the Sydney Corporation, and commercial interests and its effects upon the residential pattern of Sydney. Finally, the establishment of local government legislation is outlined leading up to the formation of the Ministry of Local Government in 1916 and its early legislation. These latter events signalled an intervention by the Government in the form of the metropolis. Show more