In December 1974, when the Monarto Development Commission’s Town Planning Division asked this question, the new town of Monarto – arguably Australia’s last such project to date – had less than a year left as a serious proposition. Monarto was to be South Australia’s second such development after Elizabeth, and it was hoped its creators would learn from the mistakes and drawbacks not only of that city established two decades earlier; but also from the perceived mistakes of Australian urbanism in the postwar era. The new city was often described as incorporating remnant natural features and swathes of rugged open space; innovative ecologically sensitive design; and in its “fresh start” a “reconsideration of the role of technology” particularly for transport. The new city’s proponents aspired to “pre-empt… social problems, or dysfunctions” with design.

While Monarto continues to generate interest in its environmental innovations, most of the studies were either done by people directly involved or in the aftermath of its failure: this paper seeks to offer a fresh perspective. It examines the social research underpinning the Monarto plans, and the expectations regarding the role of education, family and community in the new city; and offers a more complex understanding of the national and international influences operating on the city designs by Boris Kazanski and John Andrews. It asks what we can learn from the Monarto plans about the state of knowledge on ideal city design in Australia in the early 1970s.