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Melbourne - Past, Present, Future

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“Marvellous Melbourne” was a popular way to describe our city dating back to around 1880 when  Melbourne started to grow and develop into a major world city as a result of the gold rush.  The name is still in use today.  During this time Melbourne rapidly expanded  and the population increased to reach just short of 500,000 by 1890, pushing Melbourne to become the second largest city in the empire after London.  This fuelled a massive land boom and huge fortunes were made on speculation, leading business and politics to become notorious for manipulation and corruption. Sound familiar?  Rather than building high density apartment blocks like European cities, Melbourne expanded into the typical residential suburbs and leafy streetscapes we see today.
 
But in 1891 all this speculation and corruption resulted in a spectacular crash, with banks and businesses failing in large numbers.  Melbourne slowly recovered to become the seat of government and the capital of Australia. Melbourne also retained its cultural and intellectual dominance which helped our recovery.  But, importantly, we were left with a lovely city in world terms with a good railway system, its marvellous Victorian and Edwardian buildings and its interesting laneways, wonderful gardens, etc. However, rather than build on this inheritance, today we are in danger of becoming a very different city and politicians are hand- in- glove with a new breed of developers to bring this about with a mix of planning policies and, dare we say, manipulation and corruption. 

It has been said that nothing changes.

The past frames the present....  The present determines the future....  Explore the huge range of information available on Melbourne linked below.  If you have any suggestions, additions, corrections, opinions.... please add them.

The Past:

The Present:

Future:

 

Melbourne is a city his
Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 07/31/2009 - 03:20.

Melbourne is a city his architecture is admired it is exquisite, they making to travel to the past in his golden eras, there are not many places that there preserve so well these historical buildings, which are a gift for the hungry eyes of beauty. Visit Melbourne!
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Cool
Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 07/18/2009 - 22:12.

geogorod.ru Melbourne very much was pleasant to me, when I went there last year Beautiful structures, kind people, simply fairy tale, instead of a city!!!!

Melbourne
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 04/21/2009 - 09:22.

I only new that Melbourne lies in Australia and that is it but with your short description I feel enlighted :-) The goldrush brought many towns up and let them also fall down but I didn´t know that this was in Melbourne too. Thanks for posting, Billig Fliegen

I love Melbourne!
Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 04/03/2009 - 04:10.

I like its spread out and yet not too expansive, confusing road, street and city system. It has a much more relaxing and yet sophisticated atmosphere than Sydney and everything there just feels settled. Melbourne is a wonderful place. Also, if anyone is interested in history and culture, you should try visiting Prague and experience the city for its wonderful, historic architecture and art.

castlesteps.com

Nice post! Many people that I
Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 03/16/2009 - 20:50.

Nice post! Many people that I know are interested in history of Melbourne. Most of them are living there or have been there on holidays. They know how does it look today but many of them are interested in it's past.

Hanna
liveoutside.co.uk

Melbourne is one of the well
Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 01/10/2009 - 17:09.

Melbourne is one of the well known and beautiful cities in the world. I like to travel and know about different places across the continents. Would love to visit Australia this year. Thanks for the history. davidmoor.com David