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Melbourne

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Melbourne (Template:PronAusE) is the second most populous city in Australia, with a metropolitan area population of approximately 3.74 million (2006 estimate).[1] Located around Port Phillip Bay in Australia's south-east, Melbourne is the state capital of Victoria. A person from Melbourne is called a Melburnian.[2]

Melbourne
Victoria
Location of Melbourne in Australia
Population3,744,373 (2006 estimate) (2nd)
 • Density479.6/km2 (1,242/sq mi)
Established30 August 1835
Area8,831 km2 (3,409.7 sq mi)
Time zoneAEST (UTC+10)
 • Summer (DST)AEDT (UTC+11)
Location
LGA(s)various (31)
CountyBourke
State electorate(s)various (54)
Federal division(s)various (23)
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall
19.8 °C
68 °F		 10.2 °C
50 °F		 646.9 mm
25.5 in
This article is about the Australian city; the name may also refer to City of Melbourne or Melbourne city centre. For other uses, see Melbourne (disambiguation).

Melbourne is a major centre of commerce, industry and cultural activity. The city is often referred to as Australia's 'sporting and cultural capital' [3] and it is home to many of the nation's most significant cultural and sporting events and institutions. It has been recognised as a gamma world city by the Loughborough University group's 1999 inventory.[4] Melbourne is notable for its mix of Victorian and contemporary architecture, its extensive tram network and Victorian parks and gardens, and its diverse, multicultural society. It was the host city of the 1956 Summer Olympics and the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

Melbourne was founded by free settlers in 1835, 47 years after the first European settlement of Australia, as a pastoral settlement situated around the Yarra River.[5] Transformed rapidly into a major metropolis by the Victorian gold rush in the 1850s, "Marvellous Melbourne" became Australia's largest and most important city by 1865,[6] but was overtaken by Sydney as the largest city in Australia during the early 20th century.[7] Recent projections predict that Melbourne will be the most populous city in Australia by 2028.[8]

Melbourne served as the capital city of Australia from the time of the new nation's federation in 1901, until Federal Parliament moved to the newly purpose-built capital, Canberra, in 1927.[9]

History

 
Melbourne Landing, 1840; watercolour by W. Liardet (1840).
 
The Windsor Hotel, one of the surviving grand buildings from the 1880s boom.
 
Flinders Street Station, intersection of Swanston and Flinders Streets, 1927.
 
ICI House, commenced in 1955, was a powerful symbol of the Olympic city's modern aspirations.
Main article: History of Melbourne
See also: Timeline of Melbourne history
See also: History of Victoria

The area of the Yarra River and Port Phillip that is now Melbourne was originally inhabited by the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation. It is believed that the area was occupied by indigenous Australians for at least 40,000 years.[5] The first British penal colony in the Port Phillip district was established in 1803 on Sullivan Bay, but this settlement was abandoned after a few months.[10]

In May and June 1835, the area that is now central and northern Melbourne was explored by John Batman, a leading member of the Port Phillip Association, who negotiated a transaction for 600,000 acres (2,400 km²) of land from eight Wurundjeri chiefs.[5] He selected a site on the northern bank of the Yarra River, declaring that "this will be the place for a village", and returned to Launceston in Tasmania (then known as Van Diemen's Land). However, by the time a settlement party from the Association arrived to establish the new village, a separate group led by John Pascoe Fawkner had already arrived aboard the Enterprize and established a settlement at the same location, on 30 August 1835. The two groups ultimately agreed to share the settlement. Batman's Treaty with the Aborigines was annulled by the New South Wales government (then governing all of eastern mainland Australia), which compensated the Association.[5] Although this meant the settlers were now trespassing on Crown land, the government reluctantly accepted the settlers' fait accompli and allowed the town (known at first by various names, including "Bearbrass"[5]) to remain.

In 1836, Governor Bourke declared the city the administrative capital of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales, and commissioned the first plan for the Hoddle Grid in 1837. The settlement was named Melbourne in the same year after the British Prime Minister William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, who resided in the village of Melbourne in Derbyshire. Melbourne was declared a city by letters patent of Queen Victoria, issued on 25 June 1847.[11]

The state of Victoria was established as a separate colony in 1851 with Melbourne as its capital. With the discovery of gold in Victoria in the 1850s, leading to the Victorian gold rush, Melbourne grew rapidly, providing the majority of service industries and serving as the major port for the region. The city became a major finance centre, home to several banks and to Australia's first stock exchange (founded in 1861). During the 1880s Melbourne was one of the largest cities in the British Empire, and reputedly the richest city in the world.[12] This period saw the construction of many high-rise Victorian buildings, Coffee Palaces, terrace housing, grand boulevards and gardens throughout the city. Examples of this Victorian architecture still abound in Melbourne. So impressed was journalist George Augustus Henry Sala during his visit in 1885 that he coined the phrase "Marvellous Melbourne" to describe the booming city, a phrase which stuck long into the twentieth century.

The brash boosterism which typified Melbourne during this time came to a halt in 1891 when a world economic depression hit the city's economy, sending the finance and property industries into chaos. The effects of the depression on the city were profound, although it did continue to grow slowly during the early twentieth century.

At the time of Australia's Federation on 1 January 1901, Melbourne was specified as the temporary seat of government and remained the national capital until 1927, when the Federal parliament was moved to the planned city of Canberra. The first Federal parliament was convened on 9 May 1901 in the Royal Exhibition Building.

Melbourne was the Allied Pacific Headquarters from 1942 to 1944 as General Douglas MacArthur established Australia as a launch base for Pacific operations. During World War II, Melbourne industries thrived on wartime production and the city became Australia's leading manufacturing centre. After the war, Melbourne expanded rapidly, with its growth boosted by an influx of immigrants and the prestige of hosting the Olympic Games in 1956. Australia's mining boom between 1969 and 1970 proved beneficial to Melbourne, with the headquarters of many of the major companies (BHP and Rio Tinto, among others) based in the city. Nauru's booming mineral economy fuelled several ambitious investments in Melbourne such as Nauru House. Melbourne remained Australia's business and finance capital until the late 1970s, when it began to lose this primacy to Sydney.[13]

Melbourne experienced the worst of Victoria's economic slump between 1989 to 1992. In 1992, a newly elected Victorian government began a campaign to restore the economy with an aggressive development campaign of public works and major events centred on Melbourne and the promotion of the city as a tourist destination. Major projects included the Melbourne Museum, Federation Square, the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre, Crown Casino and CityLink tollway. Other strategies included the privatisation of some of Melbourne's services including power and public transport, and a reduction in funding to public services such as health and education.

Since 1997, Melbourne has maintained significant population and employment growth. There has been substantial international investment in the city's industries and property market, and 2006 figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that since 2000 Melbourne has sustained the highest population and economic growth rate of any Australian capital city.[14]

Geography

 
Map of greater Melbourne

Melbourne is located in the south-eastern part of mainland Australia. Geologically, it is built on the confluence of Quaternary lava flows to the west, Silurian mudstones to the east[15] and Holocene sand accumulation to the southeast along Port Phillip. The city's suburbs extend along the Yarra Valley toward the Yarra and Dandenong Ranges to the east, down towards the Mornington Peninsula and the city of Frankston, along the Maribyrnong River and its tributaries north towards the foothills of the Macedon Ranges, and along the flat volcanic plain country towards Werribee and Geelong to the south-west.

Climate

Melbourne has a moderate oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb).[16] and is notorious for its changeable weather conditions. This is due in part to the city's flat topography, its situation on Port Phillip Bay, and the presence of the Dandenong Ranges to the east, a combination that creates weather systems that often circle the bay. The phrase "four seasons in one day" is part of popular culture and observed by many visitors to the city.[17]

Melbourne is colder than most other Australian capital cities in the winter. The lowest maximum on record is 4.4 degrees Celsius, on July 4, 1901.[18] However, snowfalls are extremely rare: the most recent occurrence of sleet in the CBD was on July 25, 1986 and the most recent snowfalls in the Dandenongs were on August 10, 2005[19], November 15, 2006 and December 25th 2006[20] There has not been a major snowfall in Melbourne since 1951, when moderate cover was recorded in both the CBD and suburbs.[21] More commonly, Melbourne experiences frosts and fog in winter.

During the spring, Melbourne commonly enjoys extended periods of mild weather and clear skies. Melbourne is also known to have hot, dry summers, with maximum temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius. The hottest temperature on record was 45.6 degrees Celsius on 13 January 1939 during a four-day nationwide heat wave.[22]

Climate data for Melbourne
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Source: Bureau of Meteorology [23]
Other daily elements
  Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Yearly
Mean number of rain days 8.3 7.4 9.3 11.5 14.0 14.2 15.1 15.6 14.8 14.3 11.8 10.5 146.7
Mean number of clear days 6.3 6.3 5.7 4.4 3.0 2.5 2.7 2.9 3.4 3.6 3.5 4.4 48.5
Mean number of cloudy days 11.2 9.7 13.4 14.9 18.0 16.8 17.2 16.8 15.7 16.4 15.1 14.2 179.5
Source: Bureau of Meteorology

Cityscape

File:Melbourne City Skylines.jpg
Looking across Hobsons Bay towards the central business district
 
Victoria Avenue, Canterbury is one of many London Plane Tree lined streets in Melbourne.

Melbourne is typical of Australian capital cities in that after the turn of the century, it expanded with the underlying notion of a "quarter acre home and garden" for every family, often referred to locally as the Australian Dream. Much of metropolitan Melbourne is accordingly characterised by low density sprawl. The provision of an extensive railway and tram service in the earlier years of development encouraged this low density development, mostly in radial lines along the transport corridors.

The original city (known today as the central business district or CBD) is laid out in the mile-by-half-a-mile Hoddle Grid, its southern edge fronting onto the Yarra. The city centre is well known for its historic and attractive lanes and arcades which contain a variety of shops and cafes.[24] The CBD and surrounds contain many historic buildings such as the Royal Exhibition Building, the Melbourne Town Hall and Parliament House.

Melbourne is often referred to as Australia's garden city, and the state of Victoria was once known as "the garden state". There is an abundance of parks and gardens in Melbourne, many close to the CBD with a variety of common and rare plant species amid landscaped vistas, pedestrian pathways and tree-lined avenues. There are also many parks in the surrounding suburbs of Melbourne, such as in the municipalities of Stonnington, Boroondara and Port Phillip, south east of the CBD.

Culture

 
The Federation Square cultural precinct
 
The Melbourne Cricket Ground
Main article: Culture of Melbourne

Melbourne is known as an Australian cultural and sport capital, and is the spiritual home of Australian rules football.

It has thrice [25] shared top position in a survey by The Economist of the World's Most Livable Cities on the basis of its cultural attributes, climate, cost of living, and social conditions such as crime rates and health care, in 2002,[26] 2004 and 2005.[27]

The city celebrates a wide variety of annual cultural events, performing arts and architecture. Melbourne is also considered to be Australia's live music capital with a large proportion of successful Australian artists emerging from the Melbourne live music scene.

Economy

File:Melb cbd.jpg
The Hoddle Grid, Melbourne's original Central Business District, as viewed from the Observation Deck at Rialto Towers.
 
The Yarra River and the city skyline

Melbourne is the southernmost city in the 1999 inventory of global cities put together by the Globalization and World Cities group[28]. It is also the home of many of Australia's largest corporations, the Business Council of Australia, the Australian Council of Trade Unions, and many of the companies listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. Melbourne is home to five of the ten largest corporations in Australia (based on revenue)[29], more than any other Australian city (the five corporations with headquarters in Melbourne are ANZ, BHP Billiton, the National Australia Bank, Rio Tinto, and Telstra). Many multinational corporations (approximately one-third of the 100 largest multinationals operating in Australia as of 2002) also have their main Australian office in Melbourne.

The demand for office space means that there are many skyscrapers in Melbourne (although the tallest, the Eureka Tower (at 300m above street level) is mostly residential). The tallest office tower, the Rialto Towers (251m above street level) is also the tallest office building in the Southern Hemisphere.[30] Both these buildings house observation decks.

Melbourne is home to Australia's busiest seaport and much of Australia's automotive industry, which include Ford and Toyota manufacturing facilities, and the engine manufacturing facility of Holden. It is also home to many other manufacturing industries.[31] In mid-November 2006, the city was host to the G20 summit, amid violent protests.

Melbourne is also a major technology hub, with a strong ICT industry that employs over 60,000 people (one third of Australia's ICT workforce), has a turnover of AUD$19.8 billion, and has export revenues of $615 million.[32] In a recent study, out of the world's 50 most influential financial cities, Melbourne was placed at number 34, ahead of major cities such as Dubai, Bangkok and KualaLumpur. [33]

While Australia's financial services industry is generally centred in Sydney, Melbourne retains a significant presence. Two of the big four banks, NAB and ANZ, are headquartered in Melbourne. The city has carved out a niche as Australia’s leading centre for superannuation (pension) funds, with 40 per cent of the total, and 65 per cent of industry super-funds.[34] Melbourne is also home to the $40 billion-dollar Federal Government Future Fund, and could potentially be home to the world's fourth largest company should the proposed merger between BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto Group be carried out.[35]

Most recent major infrastructure projects, such as the redevelopment of Southern Cross Station (formerly Spencer Street Station), have been centred around the 2006 Commonwealth Games, which were held in the city from 15 March to 26 March 2006. The centrepiece of the Commonwealth Games projects was the redevelopment of the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the stadium used for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Games. The project involved rebuilding the northern half of the stadium and laying a temporary athletics track at a cost of $434 million.[36]

Construction began in February 2006 of a $1 billion 5000-seat international convention centre, Hilton Hotel and commercial precinct adjacent to the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre to link development along the Yarra River with the Southbank precinct and multi-billion dollar Docklands redevelopment.[37]

International freight is an important industry to Melbourne. The city's port, Australia's largest, handles more than $75 billion in trade every year and 39 per cent of the nation's container trade.[38][39]

Tourism plays an important role in Melbourne's economy, with approximately 7.6 million domestic visitors and 1.88 million international visitors in 2004.[40]

Demographics

 
Melbourne's Chinatown, established in 1854, is not only the oldest in Australia but one of the oldest in the world

Today Melbourne is a diverse and multicultural city. Almost a quarter of Victoria's population was born overseas, and the city is home to residents from 233 countries, who speak over 180 languages and dialects and follow 116 religious faiths.[41]

Melbourne was transformed by the 1850s gold rush; within months of the discovery of gold in August 1852, the city's population had increased by nearly three-quarters — from 25,000 to 40,000 inhabitants.[42] Thereafter, growth was exponential and by 1865, Melbourne had overtaken Sydney as Australia's most populous city.[6] By 1900, however, Sydney and Melbourne were the same size, and by 1902, a year after Federation, Sydney had overtaken Melbourne as the largest urban centre in Australia.[7]

In recent years, the gap in population between the two cities has been decreasing once again. A recent report by demographer Bernard Salt predicts that if the population growth trends continue, Melbourne will reclaim the title of Australia's largest city by 2028.[43]

In common with the rest of the continent, the earliest inhabitants of the broad area that later became Melbourne were Indigenous Australians — specifically, the Bunurong, Wurundjeri and Wathaurong peoples. Melbourne is still a centre of Aboriginal life — consisting of local groups and indigenes from other parts of Australia — with the Aboriginal community in the city numbering over 20,000 persons (0.6 per cent of the population).[44]

Immigrants

Significant overseas born populations[45]
Country of Birth Population (2006)
  United Kingdom 156,457
  Italy 77,801
  Vietnam 66,996
  People's Republic of China 60,726
  Greece 60,279
  New Zealand 53,453
  India 52,386
  Sri Lanka 40,004
  Malaysia 31,174
  Philippines 27,568
  Germany 23,182
  South Africa 20,134

As with the rest of Australia, the first European settlers in Melbourne were British and Irish. These two groups accounted for nearly all arrivals before the gold rush, and supplied the predominant number of immigrants to the city until the Second World War. (Indeed, Victoria — and Melbourne in particular — attracted a greater proportion of Irish than other Australasian colonies.) Nonetheless, large numbers of Chinese, Germans and United States citizens were to be found on the goldfields and subsequently in Melbourne. The various nationalities involved in the Eureka Stockade revolt nearby give some indication of the migration flows in the second half of the nineteenth century.

In the first half of the twentieth century, alongside the usual British and Irish migrants, Melbourne began to receive steady trickles of Italians and Greeks, as did rural New South Wales and Western Australia. At the time, these inflows were considered insignificant, but with hindsight these early groups were effectively pioneers of two of the city's more numerous contemporary communities.

In the aftermath of the Second World War, Melbourne experienced an unprecedented influx of arrivals from Mediterranean Europe — primarily Greece and Italy, but also Cyprus and Turkey. The sheer numbers of Greeks and Italians — and their Greek Australian and Italian Australian children — soon led to Melbourne being referred to as "the third largest Greek city in the world" or "largest Greek city out side of Greece" and "Little Italy". According to the 2001 Census, there were 151,785 ethnic Greeks in the metropolitan area.Nearly half of all Greek Australians live in Melbourne.

However, the Greek proportion of city's population (3.8 percent) is in fact second to that of the Italian one. In 2001, 247,719 persons stated they were of Italian ancestry, accounting for 31 percent of all Italian Australians and 6.2 percent of Melbourne's population. What is more, both groups are outnumbered by those claiming "Australian" — 959,822 persons or 24 percent — English — 929,314 persons or 23.2 percent — or Irish — 319,977 persons or 8 percent — ancestry. Those claiming a Chinese background are the sixth largest ethnic group in Melbourne, accounting for 146,287 census responses and 3.7 percent of the city's total inhabitants. Vietnamese and Vietnamese Australians are also a significant presence in the city.

 
Victorian terrace housing, typical of many of Melbourne's inner suburbs, which have been subject to gentrification and urban renewal since the 1970s

Melbourne enjoys comparitively high levels of migrant integration to the other capital cities. Some suburbs, such as Footscray and Dandenong are particular renowned as multi-cultural melting pots. These suburbs feature large Indian, Vietnamese and also African migrant populations. However there are some ethnic groups are associated with the suburbs where they first settled. Examples of major ethnic communities includes the Italians with Carlton (featuring Lygon Street - Melbourne's "Little Italy"), Brunswick, Macedonians in Preston; Chinese in Chinatown and Box Hill; Greeks in Oakleigh and East Keilor; Vietnamese in Richmond and Springvale; Indians in Dandenong; Russians in Carnegie and Spanish in Fitzroy. The cities of Dandenong, Monash, Casey and Whittlesea on Melbourne's fringe are particular migrant hotspots.[46]

Birthplaces

 
Brunswick Street is known for its cafés, live music venues and alternative fashion shops

With regard to birthplace, a far higher proportion of Melbourne residents in 2001 were born overseas than the Australian average: 34.8 per cent compared to a national average of 23.1 per cent. In common with the rest of Australia, Britain was the most commonly reported country of birth, with 4.7 per cent. This was followed by Italy with 2.4 per cent, Greece with 1.9 per cent and the People's Republic of China with 1.3 per cent. There are also many residents of Melbourne born in Vietnam, India, Sri Lanka and more recently South Africa and Sudan.

Languages

Linguistically, Melbourne is one of Australia's most diverse urban centres, though according to 2001 Census data, over two-thirds of people in Melbourne speak only English at home — 2,316,755 persons or 68.8 per cent. Italian is the second most common home language, spoken by 133,907 residents or 4.0 per cent. Greek is third with 118,394 habitual users (3.5 percent) and the Chinese languages fourth with 110,645 speakers (3.3 per cent). 84.2 per cent of those born overseas living in the city spoke English exclusively, 'very well' or 'well'.

Religion

Melbourne
Urban density
(people/ha)
1951 23.4[47]
1961 21.4[48]
1971 18.1[49]
1976 16.75[50]
1981 15.9[51]
1986 16.05[52]
1991 16.8[53]
1996 17.9[54]

In terms of religion, Christianity is the most professed faith in Melbourne with 2,097,493 followers accounting for 62.3 per cent of residents. The largest Christian denominations are:

However the largest churches in Melbourne, are generally Assemblies of God:[55]

According to further census data, Melbourne residents include:

  • 571,863 (17.1 per cent) with no religion.
  • 106,570 Buddhists (3.2 per cent)
  • 87,755 Muslims (2.6 per cent)
  • 37,779 Jews (1.1 per cent)
  • 23,334 Hindus (0.7 per cent)

Melbourne is also home to the largest Jewish community in Oceania: four out of ten of Australia's Jews (40.4 per cent) live in the metropolitan area. Melbourne also has the largest number of Holocaust survivors of any Australian city,[56] and the highest per capita concentration of holocaust survivors anywhere in the world outside Israel.[57]

It is the seat of both the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne and the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne.

Population growth

Melbourne
Population by year
1836 177
1851 29,000
1854 123,000 (gold rush)
1860 140,000
1880 280,000 (property boom)
1890 490,000
1956 1,500,000
1981 2,806,000
1991 3,156,700 (economic slump)
2001 3,366,542
2004 3,592,975
2006 3,744,373
2021 4,500,000 (projected)
2030 > 5,000,000 (projected)

Although Brisbane and Perth are growing faster in percentage terms, and Victoria's net interstate migration has fluctuated, the Melbourne statistical division has grown by approximately 50,000 people a year since 2003, more than any other Australian city. Attraction of a large proportion of overseas immigrants and interstate migration from Sydney due to more affordable housing are two recent key factors.[58] In recent years, Melton, Wyndham and Casey, part of the Melbourne statistical division, have recorded the highest growth rate of all local government areas in Australia. It has been suggested that if population growth continues at its current rate, Melbourne could become Australia's largest city once again by 2028.[59]

Melbourne's population density declined following World War II, with the private motor car and the lures of space and property ownership causing an exodus to the suburbs, mainly to the east. After much discussion (both at general public and planning levels) in the 1980s, the decline has been reversed since the recession of the early 1990s, and the city has seen increased density in the inner and western suburbs. Since the 1970s, Victorian Government planning blueprints such as Postcode 3000 and Melbourne 2030 have aimed to curtail the urban sprawl.

Government

 
The South Melbourne Town Hall. South Melbourne was the oldest of several municipalities which have since been amalgamated, many of their civic buildings rivalled the Melbourne Town Hall in terms of size and grandeur.

The Melbourne City Council governs the City of Melbourne, which takes in the CBD and a few adjoining inner suburbs. However the head of the Melbourne City Council, the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, is frequently treated as a representative of greater Melbourne (the entire metropolitan area),[60] particularly when interstate or overseas. The Lord Mayor is John So.

The rest of the metropolitan area is divided into 30 local government areas. All these are designated as Cities, except for five on the city's outer fringes which have the title of Shire. The local government authorities have elected councils and are responsible for a range of functions (delegated to them from the State Government of Victoria under the Local Government Act of 1989[61]), such as urban planning and waste management.

Most city-wide government activities are controlled by the Victorian state government, which governs from Parliament House in Spring Street. These include public transport, main roads, traffic control, policing, education above preschool level, and planning of major infrastructure projects. Because three quarters of Victoria's population lives in Melbourne, state governments have traditionally been reluctant to allow the development of citywide governmental bodies, which would tend to rival the state government. The semi-autonomous Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works was abolished in 1992 for this reason. This is not dissimilar to other Australian states where State Governments have similar powers in greater metropolitan areas.

Education

Further information: [[:List of schools in Victoria]]
 
Monash University is the largest in Australia. Based in Melbourne, it now has several international campuses.
 
The University of Melbourne, established in 1853, is the second oldest in Australia

Melbourne is home to some of the nation's oldest educational institutions, including the oldest Law (1857), Engineering (1860), Medical (1862), Dental (1897) and Music (1891) schools, all at the University of Melbourne. The University of Melbourne is also the oldest university in Victoria and the second oldest university in Australia. St. Mary's Primary School, Williamstown, is the oldest school in Victoria and Scotch College (1851) is the oldest secondary school. Melbourne is home to the largest secondary school in Australia, Haileybury College.

Melbourne's two largest tertiary institutions are the University of Melbourne and Monash University. Both are members of the Group of Eight. Melbourne University ranked second among Australian universities in the 2006 THES international rankings. [62] While The Times Higher Education Supplement ranked the University of Melbourne as the 22nd best university in the world, Monash University was ranked the 38th best university in the world.

Other universities located in Melbourne include La Trobe University, RMIT University, Swinburne University of Technology, Victoria University and the St Patrick's campus of the Australian Catholic University. Deakin University maintains two major campuses in Melbourne and Geelong, and is the third largest university in Victoria. In recent years, the number of international students at Melbourne's universities has risen rapidly, a result of an increasing number of places being made available to full fee paying students.[63]

Although non-tertiary public education is free, 35 per cent of students attend a private primary or secondary school.[64] The most numerous private schools are Catholic, and the rest are independent (see Public and Private Education in Australia). The most prestigious independent schools are members of the Associated Public Schools of Victoria (APS) or the Associated Grammar Schools of Victoria (AGSV). The main purpose of these two groups is sporting competition. Private schools achieve better results on average in the VCE (the final year certificate) than public schools. The exceptions to this rule are the two academically selective public high schools, Melbourne High School and MacRobertson Girls High School. Because of this, private school students dominate admissions into tertiary institutions.[65]

Many high schools in Melbourne are called 'Secondary Colleges', a remnant of the Kirner Labor government. There are two selective public schools in Melbourne (mentioned above), but all public schools may restrict entry to students living in their regional 'zone'.[66][67]

Infrastructure

Health

The Government of Victoria's Department of Human Services oversees approximately 30 public hospitals in the Melbourne metropolitan region, and 13 health services organisations.[68] The major public hospitals are the Royal Melbourne Hospital, The Alfred Hospital and Austin Hospital, while major private hospitals include Epworth Hospital and St Vincent's. The city is also home to major medical and biotechnology research centres such as St. Vincent's Institute of Medical Research, the Burnet Institute, Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, The Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Baker Heart Institute and the Australian Synchrotron.

Transport

Main article: Transport in Melbourne
 
The Bolte Bridge
 
Trams and trains in the Melbourne CBD
 
The Sound Tube on the CityLink freeway

Melbourne has an integrated public transport system known as Metlink, originally laid out late in the 19th century when trains and trams were the primary methods of travelling to the suburbs. The 1950s saw an increase in private vehicles and freeway construction.[69] This trend has continued with successive governments despite relentless traffic congestion.[70][71] The result has been a significant drop in public transport modeshare from the 1940s level of around 25 per cent to the current level of around 9 per cent.[72] Melbourne's public transport system was privatised in 1999.

Melbourne's tram network is both one of the world's most extensive and the only one comprising more than a single line remaining in Australia. Trams are not only a form of transport, but a tourist icon. Visitors are served by a free City Circle Tram, as well as fleet of restaurant trams.

There are almost 300 bus routes and a mostly-electric train system with more than 15 lines. Flinders Street Station is a prominent Melbourne landmark and meeting place. In 1926 it was the world's busiest passenger station. [73] The city has rail connections with several regional cities in the state, as well as interstate rail services to Sydney and Adelaide, which depart from Melbourne's other major rail terminus, Southern Cross Station.

Melbourne has a high dependency on private cars for transport, with 7.1 per cent of trips made by public transport.[74] However there has been a significant rise in patronage in the last two years mostly due to higher fuel prices. 2006 figures showed 12 per cent commute using public transport.[75] Melbourne has a total of 3.6 million private vehicles using 22,320 km of road, and one of the highest lengths of road per capita.[74] Major highways feeding into the city include the Eastern Freeway, Monash Freeway and West Gate Freeway (which spans the spectacular Westgate Bridge), whilst other road systems include CityLink and the Western Ring Road, Calder Freeway, Tullamarine Freeway (main airport link) and the Hume Freeway which links Melbourne and Sydney.

The Port of Melbourne is Australia's largest container and general cargo port and also its busiest. In 2007, the port handled two million shipping containers in a 12 month period, making it one of the top five ports in the Southern Hemisphere.[76] Station Pier in Port Phillip Bay handles cruise ships and the Spirit of Tasmania ferries which cross Bass Strait to Tasmania.

Melbourne has four airports. Melbourne International Airport located at Tullamarine is the city's main international and domestic (Qantas and Virgin Blue and Jetstar) gateway. Tullamarine is the headquarters for low cost airlines Jetstar and Tiger Airways Australia. Avalon Airport, located between Melbourne and Geelong, is a secondary hub of Jetstar. It is also used as a freight and maintenance facility. Moorabbin Airport is a significant general aviation airport in the city's south east. Essendon Airport, which was once the city's main airport before the construction of the airport at Tullamarine, handles general aviation and some cargo flights.

Utilities

 
The Shrine of Remembrance
 
The Royal Exhibition Building and the modern Melbourne Museum
See also: Energy in Victoria

Water storage and supply for Melbourne is managed by Melbourne Water, which is owned by the Victorian Government. The organisation is also responsible for management of sewerage and the major water catchments in the region. Water is mainly stored in the largest dam, the Thomson River Dam which is capable of holding around 60% of Melbourne's water capacity,[77] while smaller dams such as the Upper Yarra Dam and the Cardinia Reservoir carry secondary supplies.

Water restrictions are in place and the state government has considered water recycling schemes for the city. In June 2007, the Bracks Government announced a $4.9 billion water plan to secure the future of water supplies in Melbourne, including the construction of a $3.1 billion desalination plant on Victoria's south-east coast, capable of treating 150 billion litres of water per year.[78] Other projects included in this package is a 70 km pipeline from the Goulburn area in Victoria's north to Melbourne and a new water pipeline linking Melbourne and Geelong.

Supply of town gas to Melbourne was initially provided by private companies such as the Melbourne Metropolitan Gas Company from the 1850s, with gasworks being scattered throughout the suburbs. The Gas and Fuel Corporation of Victoria was formed in 1951 to manage gas supply state wide, and to build a centralised gasworks at Morwell. The discovery of natural gas in Bass Strait in the 1960s saw gas supplies converted to the new fuel by the 1970s.[79] The Gas and Fuel Corporation was privatised in the late 1990s.

The first electricity supplies to Melbourne were also provided by private companies, with a number of small power stations such as those at Spencer Street and Richmond operating. These small operations were merged into the State Electricity Commission of Victoria that was formed in 1921,[80] the SECV also building the first of many brown coal fired power stations at Yallourn in the Latrobe Valley. The responsibilities of the SECV were privatised between 1995 and 1999.

Numerous telecommunications companies operate in Melbourne providing terrestrial and mobile telecommunications services.

Sister cities

Template:Melb sister cities map Melbourne has six sister cities.[81] They are:

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ Regional Population Growth, Australia, 1996 to 2006 Australian Bureau of Statistics, July 2007
  2. ^ The variant spelling 'Melbournian' is sometimes found but is considered grammatically incorrect. The term 'Melbournite' is also sometimes used. Right Words: A Guide to English Usage in Australia. Stephen Murray-Smith. 2nd ed. Ringwood, Vic. Viking, 1989
  3. ^ Australian Government Culture and Recreation Portal
  4. ^ Beaverstock, J.V. "Research Bulletin 5: A Roster of World Cities". Globalization and World Cities. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ a b c d e "City of Melbourne - History and heritage - Settlement – foundation and surveying". City of Melbourne. Retrieved 7 October. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ a b The Snowy Mountains Scheme and Multicultural Australia
  7. ^ a b Linking a Nation: Australia's Transport and Communications 1788 - 1970
  8. ^ Jamie Walker and Natasha Robinson Population pushing Melbourne to top The Australian 12 November 2007
  9. ^ When Melbourne was Australia’s capital city
  10. ^ James Button Secrets of a forgotten settlement The Age, 4 October 2003
  11. ^ Melbourne the city's history and development, 2nd ed pg 25, Miles Lewis, 1995
  12. ^ Robert B. Cervero, The Transit Metropolis: A Global Inquiry, 1998, Island Press, ISBN 1559635916, p.320
  13. ^ Elias, David Tell Melbourne it's over, we won Sydney Morning Herald, December 31, 2003
  14. ^ Marino, Melissa; Colebatch, Tim Melbourne's population booms The Age, March 24, 2005 accessed November 7, 2006
  15. ^ [1] accessed November 10, 2007
  16. ^ Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., 4, 439–473, 2007, 'Updated world map of the Koppen-Geiger climate classification system' accessed March 10, 2007
  17. ^ Welcome to Melbourne - Introduction, City of Melbourne
  18. ^ Waldon, Steve and Medew, Julia, 'Snow misses CBD lunch appointment' article from The Age dated August 10, 2005, accessed November 7, 2006
  19. ^ Snow falls in Melbourne Sydney Morning Herald, August 10, 2005 accessed online November 7, 2006
  20. ^ Rain hits the target from the Herald Sun
  21. ^ Waldon and Medew, loc. cit.
  22. ^ Record heat and stupidity as Melbourne swelters, The Age, January 25 2003
  23. ^ "Climate statistics for Australian locations". {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  24. ^ Suzy Freeman-Greene, Melbourne's love affair with lanes , The Age, August 10, 2005, accessed September 21, 2007
  25. ^ The Age: "Melbourne 'world's top city'" - February 6, 2004
  26. ^ Melbourne and Vancouver are the world’s best cities to live in Economist Intelligence Unit (2002).
  27. ^ Vancouver Melbourne and Vienna named worlds most liveable cities Economist Intelligence Unit (2005).
  28. ^ Beaverstock, J.V. "Research Bulletin 5: A Roster of World Cities". Globalization and World Cities. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  29. ^ BRW 1000
  30. ^ Rialto Tower
  31. ^ Business Victoria
  32. ^ Industry Snapshot from Multimedia Victoria
  33. ^ http://www.mastercard.com/us/company/en/wcoc/pdf/index_2007_us.pdf
  34. ^ Funds Management Fact Sheet
  35. ^ BHP chief spruiks up bid to take over Rio Tinto, The Age, November 13, 2007
  36. ^ MCG Redevelopment completed, MCG, February 17, 2006
  37. ^ Councillors furious about convention centre deal, The Age, May 1, 2006
  38. ^ Port Of Melbourne Sets Shipping Record
  39. ^ Growth of Australia's largest port essential, The Age, December 18, 2004
  40. ^ Melbourne Airport Passenger Figures Strongest on Record
  41. ^ Victiorian Cultural Diversity Week
  42. ^ "~ GOLD ~". Special Broadcasting Service. Retrieved 8 October. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  43. ^ "Population pushing Melbourne to top". The Australian. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
  44. ^ VicNet - Strategy for Aboriginal Managed Land in Victoria: Draft Report [Part 1-Section 2]
  45. ^ 2006 ABS census
  46. ^ The streets of our town from theage.com.au
  47. ^ Melbourne Metropolitan Planning Scheme 1954, p. 23
  48. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics 1961
  49. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics 1971
  50. ^ Melbourne Social Atlas, 1976 (ABS)
  51. ^ Social Atlas, 1981
  52. ^ Soc. Atlas/"Supermap" Census Data, 1986
  53. ^ Social Atlas/Supermap, 1991
  54. ^ Department of Infrastructure, 1998
  55. ^ Wikipedia Article: List of the largest churches in Australia
  56. ^ Holocaust Remembrance in Australian Jewish Communities Judith Berman
  57. ^ "The Kadimah & Yiddish Melbourne in the 20th Century". Jewish Cultural Centre and National Library: "Kadima". {{cite web}}: Text "accessdate 9 January" ignored (help)
  58. ^ The Resurgence of Marvellous Melbourne Trends in Population Distribution in Victoria, 1991-1996. Article by John O'Leary. Monash University Press
  59. ^ http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22741975-601,00.html
  60. ^ Dunstan, David The evolution of 'Clown Hall', The Age, November 12, 2004, accessed online November 7, 2006
  61. ^ Local Government Act 1989
  62. ^ "ANU up there with the best". Sydney Morning Herald. 6 October 2005. Retrieved 12 October. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  63. ^ University of Melbourne's international student offers rise - as its demand leaps
  64. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics - Schools, 2005
  65. ^ "Schools get VCE report cards". The Age. Retrieved 8 October. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  66. ^ Schools inequality calls for bold reform, The Age, October 17, 2003
  67. ^ How Much Do Public Schools Really Cost? Estimating the Relationship Between House Prices and School Quality, ANU, 6 August 2006
  68. ^ Melbourne public hospitals and Metropolitan Health Services Victorian Department of Health
  69. ^ The cars that ate Melbourne article from the Age
  70. ^ Bid to end traffic chaos
  71. ^ Melbourne's traffic on the move? article from the ABC
  72. ^ Trial by public transport: why the system is failing article from The Age
  73. ^ Melbourne and scenes in Victoria 1925-1926 from Victorian Government Railways From the National Library of Australia
  74. ^ a b Most Liveable and Best Connected? The Economic Benefits of Investing in Public Transport in Melbourne, by Jan Scheurer, Jeff Kenworthy, and Peter Newman
  75. ^ Still Addicted to Cars from heraldsun.com.au
  76. ^ Port Of Melbourne Sets Shipping Record
  77. ^ Melbourne Water
  78. ^ Desal plant to be public-private deal, The Age, September 20, 2007
  79. ^ Energy Safe Victoria: Natural Gas in Victoria
  80. ^ [State Electricity Commission Act 1920 (No.3104)]
  81. ^ Official Website of the City of Melbourne; accessed 2 November 2006

Tourism

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Photos

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