While the idea of urban icons might be about producing iconic buildings in terms of form and shape, the specific use of high-end materials, or a particular strategy for the organisation of urban spaces, places often have significant meanings through very different – and often underappreciated – means. Significantly, the people who inhabit them and...

An original component of the 1811 grid plan for New York City, Union Square has acquired an association as a place in which the ideals of American republicanism and democracy are both signified and enacted. The square is occupied by a central lawn, a series of statues, a small building to the north, and an...

This paper outlines the Gold Coast Icon project, a research project being undertaken by the Council of the City of Gold Coast that aims to explore and reveal the places and spaces that tell the quintessential and important stories of the Gold Coast’s development during the post-war era.

Urban parks are valued by residents and tourists alike as they are a pleasant juxtaposition from the intensity of the surrounding city. But parks haven’t necessarily been considered in the same economic or political terms as other parts of the city. In recent years, the potential of urban landscapes to contribute to the economic health...

During the fifteen years following World War Two, thousands of aspiring home-owners on Sydney’s suburban fringe lived in residential subdivisions without basic household amenities and public infrastructure. This situation was the result of weak planning regulations governing the subdivision and sale of property at the same time as a national housing shortage created unprecedented demand...