Recovering suburbia: An analysis of sururban form - post fire redevelopment

Abstract

The Australian garden suburb occupies a significant cultural, symbolic, and physical place in Australian society. From the mid 20th century, suburban identity was strongly linked to the concept of living in the landscape be it a backyard, a bush setting, or simply an abundance of open space. These values were expressed in the Australian garden suburb, and this was exemplified by Canberra's urban development from the 1950s to the 1980s. More recently city planners have had to come to terms with the competing forces of urban migration, competition for development control, and rapid spread of city boundaries and these changing forces have been played out in the suburbs. As a result, today's suburban development is substantially different to that of the post war garden suburb. This paper reports on a study of 250 homes rebuilt after the 2003 Canberra bushfires. It argues the planning regulations that govern building envelopes do not take into consideration the landscape impact of redevelopment in garden suburbs, and that planning controls should consider sanctioning landscape spaces on residential blocks subject to redevelopment. It argues a whole of landscape emphasis is needed as planning authorities manage change in suburban structure and form resulting from redevelopment.