Stephenson and metropolitan planning in Perth

摘要

In the 1950s Perth, capital city of Western Australia, stood on the cusp of major development which would transform it from a nineteenth-century European city to a modern commercial city dominated by international-style skyscrapers and surrounded by sprawling suburbs. Gordon Stephenson was engaged by the state government as consultant in 1953 to prepare a plan for the metropolitan area that would guide and shape this transformation. Drawing on a range of primary sources, this paper critically examines the plan, prepared with Alastair Hepburn, focusing especially on its vision for Perth's city centre and the port city of Fremantle, and summarises Stephenson's career in Perth.