Physical determinism and Australian cities

Australian cities have been shaped by alternating and compounding environmental, social and cultural forces since their establishment in the late 1700s. This chapter describes how the physical arrangement of the urban form plays an important role in fostering social and economic change in Australia cities, a process known as physical determinism. It outlines the primary physical determinants of modern Australian cities and the assumption that grouping of particularly activities would be beneficial for the population. It charts how these needs of the emerging workforce reflected and shaped early town planning efforts. It discusses how this thinking influenced the rise of the Australian suburb— typically a lower density development—and the arguments for increasing densification as well as the implications for the emerging role of the town planner.