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Brisbane
is the third largest city in Australia, as well as the capital
and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland.
It is set close to the Pacific Ocean, and is situated on
the Brisbane River on plains between Moreton Bay and the
Great Dividing Range in south-eastern Queensland.
The city is
named in honour of Sir Thomas Brisbane who was Governor
of New South Wales from 1821 – 1825. The original
settlement grew from a harsh penal colony established at
his direction in 1824 at Redcliffe, 28km to the north. The
colony was moved to what is now the location of the Brisbane
CBD in 1825, and free settlers were permitted from 1842.
It was chosen as the capital when Queensland was proclaimed
a separate colony, in 1859. The city developed slowly until
after World War II, when it played a central role in the
Allied campaign as the South West Pacific headquarters for
General Douglas MacArthur.
More recently,
Brisbane hosted the 1982 Commonwealth Games, the 1988 World's
Fair (Expo '88), and the 2001 Goodwill Games.
History
of Brisbane
Queensland's first Government House located in the QUT Gardens
Point Campus grounds.The area now known as Brisbane was
inhabited before European settlement by the Turrbal people
whose ancestors originally migrated to the region from across
the Torres Strait. To these people the area that would become
Brisbane was known as Mian-jin, which means 'place shaped
as a spike'.
In 1823, an
exploration party led by John Oxley explored Moreton Bay
and sailed up the Brisbane River as far as Goodna, some
20 km upstream from what is now Brisbane central business
district.
In 1824, the
colonial administration of New South Wales established a
penal settlement at what is now Redcliffe, on the shores
of Moreton Bay. However, the Redcliffe settlement was abandoned
after only one year and the colony was moved south to a
peninsula on the Brisbane River (today the Brisbane CBD),
which offered a more reliable water supply. Non-convict
European settlement of the Brisbane region commenced in
1838.
German missionaries
settled at Zions Hill, Nundah, as early as 1837, five years
before Brisbane was officially declared a free settlement.
During these five years, a small trickle of free settlers
entered the area and by the end of 1840 Robert Dixon had
started work on the first plan of Brisbane Town in anticipation
of future development.
The German
missionaries consisted of two ministers, Pastor C Eipper
and K W Schmidt, and lay missionaries whose names were Haussmann,
Johann Gottried Wagner, Niquet, Hartenstein, Zillman, Franz,
Rode, Doege and Schneider. They were allocated 260 hectares
and set about establishing the mission, which became known
as German Station.
Queensland
was proclaimed a separate colony in June 1859 and Brisbane
was chosen as its capital. However, Brisbane was not incorporated
as a city until 1902. Over twenty small municipalities and
shires were amalgamated in 1925, to form the City of Greater
Brisbane which is governed by the Brisbane City Council.
The Windmill in Wickham Park in Brisbane. Built by convicts
in 1828, the heritage notice at the Windmill states that
it is Queensland's oldest surviving building.Historic buildings
include The Windmill, which was built by convicts in 1828.
According to the heritage notice at the Windmill, it is
Queensland's oldest surviving building. The Windmill was
originally used for the grinding of grain and a punishment
for the convicts that manually operated the grinding mill.
The tower’s other significant claim to fame, largely
ignored, is that the first television signals in the southern
hemisphere were transmitted from it by experimenters in
April 1934 – long before TV commenced in most places.
These experimental TV broadcasts continued until World War
II.
Another historic
building is the Shrine of Remembrance, which was dedicated
on 11 November 1930. The Shrine of Remembrance is Brisbane's
main memorial of remembrance to Australia's war dead.
During World
War II, Brisbane played a central role in the Allied campaign
when the AMP Building (now called MacArthur Central) was
used as the South West Pacific headquarters for General
Douglas MacArthur, the chief of the Allied Pacific forces.
Also used as a Headquarters by the American troops during
World War II was the T & G Building. Approximately 1,000,000
US troops passed through Australia during the war, as the
primary coordination point for the South West Pacific.
Brisbane
staged both a successful Commonwealth Games during 1982,
and World's Fair during 1988. These events were accompanied
by a scale of public expenditure, construction and development
not previously seen in the state of Queensland.
In the new
millennium, Brisbane is one of Australia's fastest growing
centres, receiving large numbers of migrants from other
Australian states and territories.
Geography
Landsat image of the Brisbane region.Brisbane city centre
is situated in the southeast corner of Queensland, Australia,
at a latitude and longitude of 27°28'S, 153°02'E.
The city straddles the Brisbane River, and its eastern suburbs
line the shores of Moreton Bay. The greater Brisbane region
lies on the coastal plain east of the Great Dividing Range,
although the urban area is dotted by large hills reaching
up to 300 metres such as Mount Coot-tha, Mount Gravatt,
Whites Hill and Stephens Mountain.
Generally,
the city is a low-lying floodplain and susceptible to severe
flooding. Many suburban creeks also criss-cross the city,
which increases the risk of localised flooding. The city
has suffered two major floods since colonisation, in 1893
and 1974. The 1974 Brisbane flood occurred partly as a result
of "Cyclone Wanda". Continual non-stop heavy rain
had fallen during the three weeks leading up to the flood,
which occurred during the Australia Day weekend (26 –
27 January, 1974). The flood damaged many parts of the city,
especially in the suburbs of Oxley, Bulimba, Rocklea, Coorparoo
and New Farm. The City Botanic gardens were also inundated,
leading to a new colony of mangroves to form in the City
Reach of the Brisbane River.
Brisbane
central business district with New Farm Park in the foreground.The
Brisbane central business district is situated in a curve
of the Brisbane river. The area covers only 2.2 square kilometres
and is easily walkable. The central streets are named after
members of the House of Hanover. Streets named after female
members (Adelaide, Alice, Ann, Charlotte, Elizabeth, Margaret,
Mary) run parallel to Queen Street and Queen Street Mall
(named in honour of Queen Victoria) and perpendicular to
streets named after male members (Albert, Edward, George,
William).
Brisbane has
a lower inner city population density than Australia's two
largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, although constant
population growth occurring in Brisbane is closing the gap
between Brisbane and Melbourne. The lower population density
reflects the fact that most of Brisbane's housing stock
consists of detached houses. Early legislation decreed a
minimum size for residential blocks resulting in few terrace
houses being constructed in Brisbane. The high density housing
that did exist came in the form of miniature Queenslander-style
houses which resemble the much larger traditional styles
but are sometimes only 1/4 the size. These miniature Queenslanders
are becoming scarce but can still be seen in the inner city
suburbs. Multi residence accommodations (such as apartment
blocks) are relative newcomers to Brisbane, with few such
blocks built before 1970, other than in inner suburbs such
as New Farm. Pre-1950 housing stock was often built in a
distinctive architectural style known as a Queenslander,
featuring timber construction with large verandahs and high
ceilings. The relatively low cost of timber in South-East
Queensland meant that until recently most residences were
constructed of timber, rather than brick or stone. Many
of these houses are elevated on stumps (also called stilts),
that were originally timber, but are now frequently replaced
by steel or concrete.
Overall the
city has a density of 379.4 people per square kilometre,
which is comparable to that of Sydney. Recently the density
of the city and inner city neighbourhoods has increased
with the construction of apartments, with the result that
the population of the central business district has doubled
over the last 5 years.
Climate
Brisbane has a humid subtropical climate (Koppen climate
classification Cfa) with hot, humid summers and dry, mild
winters. From late Spring through to early Autumn, thunderstorms
are common over the greater Brisbane area, with the more
severe events accompanied by large damaging hail stones,
torrential rain and destructive winds.
The city's
highest recorded temperature was 43.2 °C (109.8 °F)
on the 26 January 1940. On 19 July 2007, Brisbane's temperature
fell below freezing point for the first time since records
began, registering -0.1 °C at the airport.[8] Brisbane's
wettest day was 21 January 1887, when 465 mm (18.3 in) of
rain fell on the city, the highest maximum daily rainfall
of any of Australia's capital cities. From 2006, Brisbane
and surrounding temperate areas have experienced the most
severe drought in over a century, as supplying dam levels
dropped below one quarter of their normal capacity. As a
result, residents have been mandated by local laws to observe
level 5 water restrictions on gardening and other outdoor
water usage.
Climate Table
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Mean daily maximum temperature (°C) 29.4 29.0 28.0 26.1
23.2 20.9 20.4 21.8 24.0 26.1 27.8 29.1 25.5
Mean daily minimum temperature (°C) 20.7 20.6 19.4 16.6
13.3 10.9 9.5 10.3 12.9 15.8 18.1 19.8 15.7
Mean monthly rainfall (mm) 159.6 158.3 140.7 92.5 73.7 67.8
56.5 45.9 45.7 75.4 97.0 133.3 1146.4
Source: Bureau of Meteorology
Governance
Brisbane City Hall houses the Museum of Brisbane and offices
of the Brisbane City Council.Main articles: Brisbane City
Council and Government of Queensland
Unlike other Australian capital cities, a large portion
of the greater metropolitan area of Brisbane is controlled
by a single local government entity, the Brisbane City Council.
Since the creation of the Brisbane City Council in 1925
the urban areas of Brisbane have expanded considerably past
the City Council boundaries.
The City of
Brisbane is divided into 26 wards, with each ward electing
a Councillor as their community representative. The Lord
Mayor of Brisbane and Councillors are elected every four
years by popular vote, in which all residents must participate.
The current Lord Mayor of Brisbane is Campbell Newman, who
was elected to the position in March 2004.
Brisbane City
Council is the largest local government body (in terms of
population and budget) in Australia. The Council, formed
by the merger of twenty smaller councils in 1925, has jurisdiction
over an area of 1367 km². The Council's annual budget
is approximately $1.6 billion, and it has an asset base
of $13 billion.
The Brisbane
metropolitan area now covers parts of several adjoining
local government areas including Beaudesert Shire, Caboolture
Shire, Gold Coast City, Ipswich City, Logan City, Pine Rivers
Shire, Redcliffe City and Redland Shire.
Economy
Brisbane city by night, looking north along the Brisbane
River towards the CBD.
Queen Street Mall, Brisbane CBD.Brisbane's economy has white-collar
and blue-collar industries. White-collar industries include
information technology, financial services, higher education
and public sector administration generally concentrated
in and around the central business district and recently
established office areas in the inner suburbs. Blue-collar
industries include petroleum refining, stevedoring, paper
milling, metalworking and QR railway workshops tend to be
located on the lower reaches of the Brisbane River and in
new industrial zones on the urban fringe. Tourism is an
important part of the Brisbane economy, both in its own
right and as a gateway to other areas of Queensland.
Since the late
1990s and early 2000s, the Queensland State Government has
been developing technology and science industries in Queensland
as a whole, and Brisbane in particular, as part of its "Smart
State" initative. The government has invested in several
biotechnology and research facilities at several universities
in Brisbane. The Institute for Molecular Bioscience at the
University of Queensland (UQ) Saint Lucia Campus is a large
CSIRO and Queensland state government initiative for research
and innovation that is currently being emulated at the Queensland
University of Technology (QUT) Campus at Kelvin Grove with
the establishment of the Institute of Health and Biomedical
Innovation (IHBI).
The Port of
Brisbane is on the lower reaches of the Brisbane River and
on Fisherman's Island at the rivers mouth, and is the 3rd
most important port in Australia for value of goods. Container
freight, sugar, grain, coal and bulk liquids are the major
exports. Most of the port facilities are less than three
decades old and some are built on reclaimed mangroves and
wetlands. The Port is a part of the Australia TradeCoast,
the country's fastest-growing economic development area,
is a marketing partnership between the Queensland Government,
the city of Brisbane, Brisbane airport and its seaport,
originally proposed by a UK marketer who had also developed
the Amsterdam airport Area zone. Geographically, Australia
TradeCoast occupies a huge swathe of land around the airport
and port. Commercially, the area has attracted a mix of
companies from throughout the Asia Pacific region.
Major businesses
Brisbane is also considered one of the major business hubs
in Australia. Most major Australian and International companies
have either a major or minor contact office in Brisbane.
Many electronics companies also take advantage of the strategic
port and airports by choosing to have distribution hubs
in the city. LG, Panasonic, Samsung are just a few practical
examples. DHL Global have their Oceanic distribution warehouse
located in Brisbane, while Asia Pacific Aerospace has their
headquarters there.
Home grown
major companies from Brisbane include Suncorp-Metway Limited,
Flight Centre, SunSuper, Orrcon, Credit Union Australia,
Donut King, Wotif.com, WebCentral, PIPE Networks, Krome
Studios, Mincom Limited and Virgin Blue are headquartered
in Brisbane, while the city has regional presences of Alcan,
Boeing, IBM and Red Hat.
Retail
Brisbane has many shopping centres. The Queen Street Mall
has restaurants, souvenirs and shopping centres, including:
Wintergarden, Broadway on the Mall, Queens Plaza, Brisbane
Arcade and The Myer Centre. The majority of consumer commerce
is generally done within the suburbs of Brisbane, via massive
shopping centre hubs which include major departments chains.
There are 4 major shopping centres in Brisbane located in
the suburbs of Chermside, Indooroopilly, Mt Gravatt and
Carindale. Smaller, yet significant shopping centres are
also littered around the other suburbs of the city. (see
List of shopping centres in Australia)
Employment
Despite strong economic growth, Queensland government statistics
show unemployment rates of over 12% among migrants to Brisbane
statistical division from interstate and overseas.
Demographics
Part of the Brisbane central business district, as seen
from above Central station
(photo taken from the Sofitel Hotel)Brisbane
Population by year
1825 47 (convict settlement)
1831 1,241
1839 2,212
1846 6,257 (free settlement)
1851 8,375
1891 104,276 (gold rush)
1925 260 000
1950 442,000
1960 603,000
1970 798,000 (interstate migration)
1980 1,067,000
1990 1,303,000
2000 1,591,000
2004 1,810,943 (2005 estimate)
The population of Brisbane city is estimated at 989,152
(as of June 2006). Greater Brisbane has an estimated urban
population of 1.7 million. Brisbane City Council as Australia's
largest (by area) predominantly urban Local Government Area,
is the most populous LGA in Australia. Brisbane is claimed
to have the highest rate of population growth of any Australian
capital city. The urban population reportedly grew by 11.5%
between 1999 and 2004.
The last Australian
Census in 2006 showed that 1.7% of Brisbane's population
are of indigenous origins, while 21.7% were born overseas.
Approximately 16.1% of households speak a language other
than English, with the most common being Mandarin, Vietnamese
and Cantonese. The median age across the city is 35 years
old.
Education
The Forgan Smith Building and the Great Court University
of QueenslandBrisbane has multi-campus universities and
colleges including the University of Queensland (A member
of the Group of Eight and Universitas 21), Queensland University
of Technology and Griffith University. Other universities
which have campuses in Brisbane include the Australian Catholic
University, Central Queensland University, James Cook University,
the University of the Sunshine Coast and the University
of Southern Queensland.
Brisbane also
has TAFE colleges including the Bremer Institute of TAFE,
Brisbane North Institute of TAFE, Metropolitan South Institute
of TAFE and the Southbank Institute. Other independent tertiary
education providers include the Australian College of Natural
Medicine, the Brisbane College of Theology, QANTM, Brisbane
College of Photography and Art as well as Jschool: Journalism
Education & Training.
Brisbane is
covered under the jurisdiction of Education Queensland regarding
public primary and high schools. (See the List of schools
in Queensland).
Culture
A portion of the Brisbane skyline taken from the South Bank
Parklands
Arts and entertainment
Main article: Popular entertainment in Brisbane
Main article: Classical culture of Brisbane
Brisbane has a thriving live music scene, as well as theatres
and museums within the city, South Bank, the South Bank
Parklands and Brisbane suburbs. It is the birthplace of
internationally acclaimed singers, music bands, authors,
actors, artists, sculptors and fashion designers. Many of
Brisbane's singers and musicians (both popular and classical)
have performed overseas, and have received international
awards and recognition. Along with Beijing, Berlin, Birmingham
and Marseille, Brisbane was nominated as one of the Top
5 International Music Hotspots by Billboard in 2007. There
are also popular entertainment pubs and clubs within both
the City and Fortitude Valley.
Annual events
Major cultural events include the Ekka (the Royal Queensland
Show) is held each year in August, at the Brisbane Exhibition
Ground, Riverfestival (which includes Riverfire), is held
each year in September at South Bank Parklands and surrounding
areas; Warana, (meaning Blue Skies), was a former spring
festival which began in 1961 and was held in September each
year. Run as a celebration of Brisbane, Warana was similar
in many ways to Melbourne's Moomba festival. Warana was
changed, in 1996, to a biennial Brisbane Festival.
The Paniyiri
festival at Musgrave Park (corner of Russell and Edmonstone
Streets, South Brisbane) an annual Greek cultural festival
held on the first weekend in May. Also in Musgrave Park
the Brisbane Medieval Fayre and Tournament is held each
June.
The Valley
Fiesta is an annual three-day event organised by the Valley
Chamber of Commerce. It was launched by Brisbane Marketing
in 2002 as a way to promote Fortitude Valley further as
a hub for arts and youth culture. It features free live
music, market stalls, food and drink from many local restaurants
and cafés, and other entertainment.
Tourism and recreation
Popular recreational areas include the South Bank Parklands,
the Roma Street Parkland (which has an outdoor amphitheatre),
the Brisbane City Botanic Gardens (a colonial era botanic
gardens founded in 1855 in the Brisbane CBD), and the Mount
Coot-tha state forest (which includes a lookout over the
city), the Brisbane Botanic Gardens (contemporary botanical
gardens) which includes the Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium
and the "Tsuki-yama-chisen" Japanese Garden, as
well as Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary and Brisbane Forest Park,
the rock-climbing cliffs which are located at the southern
approach to the Story Bridge at Kangaroo Point, and the
more than 27 km of bicycle pathways which line both sides
of the river east and west of the city centre. Another new
Brisbane attraction is the Story Bridge Adventure Climb.
The Story Bridge is one of only three legally climbable
bridges in the world. The latest addition to Brisbane tourism
is the $750 million Portside Wharf. |
