Other Definitions
canberra (dest)
canberra (enc)
canberra (dict)
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Canberra The site for the federal capital was chosen by the constitutional convention held to establish Australia as a federation in the late 1890's. The reason was simple - it was roughly halfway between Sydney and Melbourne, the two largest population centres in Australia. The Australian Capital Territory came into being along with the Federation of Australia in 1901. The city was named Canberra after the suggestion of Lady Denman, since the word Canberra means "meeting place" in the language of the local aboriginal people. Work commenced almost immediately to devise an overall plan for the city. An international competition was held, and won by the young American architect Walter Burley-Griffin. Griffin's plan established Canberra as a collection of local "town centres" nestled amongst the hills of the region, and connected by convenient arterial routes. The design of central Canberra also focussed strongly on interconnecting circles, the major roads forming arcs and radii about the parliament and city centre. Although Burley-Griffin imagined Canberra as a city designed about the future use of automobiles, many a driver has had reason to curse him for constructing roads that can so eaily confound ones natural sense of direction! Burley-Griffin's plan also called for an artificial lake (which now bears his name), and some may ponder the similarity of Canberra's centre to that of Washington DC, at least as far a s the orientation of the Parliament, the lake and the War Memorial are concerned. The site set aside for the Parliament itself was not immediately built upon. Instead a "temporary" Parliament was constructed fo the intervening period until a suitably ostentatious building could be funded. This "temporary" Parliament opened in 1927, and continued to operatefor sixety-one years! The present (permanent) Parliament was constructed in time for Australia's bicentennial celebrations, and most would agree it was worth the wait. Much of Canberra's history is tied to that of Federal politics, but the city itself has grown substantially from it's humble beginnings. From the original centres of Canberra, Belconnen and Woden, the city now extends south into the Tuggeranong Valley and east into New South Wales and the town of Queanbeyan. Aside from Federal Parliament and it's associated departments, the city has benefited from the establishment of the Australian National University in 1945, the Australian Defence Force Academy, the National Gallery, and several other institutions. Today Canberra has a relatively diverse population, although fully one-half of it's workforce is devoted to the government. The establishment of it's own governing authority, against the prevailing wishes of the residents, has done little to stem this tide. Although such a weight of beaurocracy lends a banality to Canberra as it would to any other one-industry town, the city benefits from the highest everage income and lowest unemployment level in the nation. The plan of Walter Burley-Griffin wisely left many hill-tops as local preserves, and the abundant bike trails and access to local wilderness makes Canberra both a beautiful and healthy place to live.
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