Governing the City State - Chief Minister and Treasury Directorate ...

Figure 3 – Canberra and LondonThe following diagrams overlay the Parliamentary Zone on the cities of London, Sydney andMelbourne. 21 Few people would perceive that this symbolic area of Canberra is equivalentin size to these central business districts, given the relative density of the urban form and themyriad of activities they support.Figure 4 – Parliamentary Zone comparisons – London, Sydney and MelbourneThe majority of Canberra was planned and developed through the 1960s and 1970s. At thattime, the National Capital Development Commission drew on the best international conceptsfor modern suburban planning including catering extensively for private cars. Under aplanning blueprint called Tomorrow’s Canberra, planners created what became known as theY plan which laid out a system of freeways (called parkways) that linked a series of dispersedtown centres set in the middle of suburban residential areas.21 Image courtesy of the National Capital Authority.Context for the Review: 36