Adelaide city centre
Adelaide city centre is the inner city locality of Greater Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. It is known by locals simply as "The City" or "Town" to distinguish it from Greater Adelaide and from the City of Adelaide local government area. Due to the construction of many new apartments in the city, the population has grown over ten years from 10,229 to 15,115.
Adelaide was planned based on a grid layout featuring streets that run at right angles to each other, surrounded by gardens and parks. Within the city centre, there are other designations used to describe various areas, the broadest being:
- The city "square mile", bordered by North, East, South and West Terraces, part of which is referred to as the CBD, as well a mixture of high-rise apartments and various commercial and entertainment premises scattered throughout, and the smaller cottage residences.
- *Within the "square mile", there are also defined precincts such as the West End and the East End with distinctive characters.
- The section of the parklands between North Terrace up to the River Torrens, which includes the string of medical, educational, cultural and entertainment institutions on the northern side of North Terrace, notably the Adelaide Festival Centre as well as the Parliament of South Australia and Adelaide Railway Station. Part of this area is sometimes referred to as the North Terrace cultural precinct.
History
Before the British colonisation of South Australia, the Adelaide Plains, on which Adelaide was built, were home to the Kaurna group of Aboriginal Australians. The colony of South Australia was established in 1836 at Glenelg, and the city itself established in 1837. The location and characteristic grid layout of the city and North Adelaide, as well as the surrounding parklands, were the result of the work of Colonel William Light, who was the first Surveyor General of South Australia. The area where the Adelaide city centre now exists was once known as "Tarndanya", the Kaurna word for as "male red kangaroo rock", which was the name used for an area along the south bank of what is now known as the River Torrens, which flows through Adelaide.Adelaide was not as badly affected by the 1860s economic depression in Australia as other gold rush cities like Sydney and Melbourne, allowing it to prosper. Historian F.W. Crowley noted that the city was full of elite upper-class citizens which provided a stark contrast to the grinding poverty of the labour areas and slums outside the inner city ring. Due to its historic wealth during the 20th century, the city retains a notable portion of Victorian architecture.
Town planning
Adelaide is separated from its greater metropolitan area by a ring of public parklands on all sides. The so-called "square mile" within the park lands is defined by a small area of high rise office and apartment buildings in the centre north, around King William Street, which runs north-to-south through the centre. Surrounding this central business district are a large number of medium to low density apartments, townhouses and detached houses which make up the residential portion of the city centre.Layout
The layout of Adelaide, known as Light's Vision, features a cardinal direction grid pattern of wide streets and terraces and five large public squares: Victoria Square in the centre of the city, and Hindmarsh, Light, Hurtle and Whitmore Squares in the centres of each of the four quadrants of the Adelaide city centre. These squares occupy 32 of the 700 numbered "town acre" allotments on Light's plan.All east-west roads change their names as they cross King William Street, except for North and South terraces. They also alternate between being wide and narrow,, except for the central Grote and Wakefield which are extra-wide,, along with the surrounding four terraces. In the south half of the city, in several places the Adelaide City Council has constructed wide footpaths and road markings to restrict traffic to a lesser number of lanes than the full width of the road could support.
The street pairs, design widths, and town acres in Light's Vision are illustrated in this diagram:
Street and square names
The streets and squares were named by a committee of a number of prominent settlers after themselves, after early directors of the South Australian Company, after Colonisation Commissioners of South Australia, and after various notables involved in the establishment of the colony.The Street Naming Committee comprised:
All members of the committee had one or more of the streets and squares in the Adelaide city centre and North Adelaide named after themselves. Brown Street, named for John Brown, was subsequently subsumed as a continuation of Morphett Street in 1967. In the same year, Hanson Street, named for Richard Hanson, was subsumed as a continuation of Pulteney Street.
The squares were named after:
- Victoria - the regent, Princess Victoria, later Queen Victoria
- Hindmarsh - Rear Admiral Sir John Hindmarsh, first Governor of South Australia
- Hurtle - Sir James Hurtle Fisher, first Resident Commissioner
- Light - Colonel William Light, Surveor General
- Whitmore - William Wolryche-Whitmore MP, a Colonial Commissioner in London
- Rundle – John Rundle MP, Director of the South Australian Company
- Hindley – Charles Hindley MP, Director of South Australian Company
- Grenfell – Pascoe St Leger Grenfell MP, presented town acre for Holy Trinity Church and other country lands
- Currie – Raikes Currie MP, Director of South Australian Company
- Pirie – Sir John Pirie, alderman and later Lord Mayor of London, Director of South Australian Company
- Waymouth – Henry Waymouth, Director South Australian Company
- Flinders – Matthew Flinders, explorer
- Franklin – Rear Admiral Sir John Franklin, midshipman under Flinders
- Wakefield – Daniel Bell Wakefield, barrister who drafted the South Australia Act
- Grote – George Grote MP, treasurer of the South Australia Association
- Angas – George Fife Angas, a Colonial Commissioner and founding Chairman of Directors of the South Australian Company
- Gouger – Robert Gouger, first Colonial Secretary
The naming of the streets was completed on 23 May 1837 and gazetted on 3 June.
East-west streets:
- Carrington - John Abel Smith
- Wright - John Wright, Colonial Commissioner and financier
- Halifax - Charles Wood, 1st Viscount Halifax, Chancellor of the Exchequer
- Sturt - Charles Sturt, explorer
- Gilles - Osmond Gilles, early treasurer of the colony
- Gilbert - Thomas Gilbert, storekeeper and postmaster
- Morphett - John Morphett, member of the South Australian parliament
- Pulteney - Admiral Sir Pulteney Malcolm, British naval officer
- Hutt - William Hutt MP, a Colonial Commissioner
Dual naming of squares and parklands
- Victoria Square - Tarntanyangga
- Hindmarsh Square - Mukata
- Hurtle Square - Tangkaira
- Light Square - Wauwi
- Whitmore Square - Iparrityi
20th-21st century precincts
- The East End, centering on Rundle Street - known for its restaurants, bars, high-end fashion shops, the Palace Nova Cinema;
- The West End, from the western end of North Terrace and encompassing several blocks southward, which includes UniSA "CityWest" campus, the Samstag Museum of Art, JamFactory, Lion Arts Centre, Mercury Cinema, numerous bars, clubs and restaurants, and "BioMed City";
- The South East of the city, largely residential, but including many cafés, restaurants, pubs, etc.; and
- The South West is very diverse; largely residential and including the Adelaide Central Market
Demographics
Due to the construction of many new apartments in the city, the population grew over ten years from 10,229 to 15,115.In the 2016 Census, there were 15,115 people in the Adelaide city centre, of whom 38.8% were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were China 17.5%, Malaysia 4.4%, England 3.4%, Hong Kong 2.8% and India 1.9%. 44.6% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 19.6%, Cantonese 4.9%, Arabic 1.9%, Korean 1.9% and Vietnamese 1.1%. The most common response for religion in Adelaide was 'No Religion' at 47.7% of the population.
Politics
At federal level, Adelaide is within the Division of Adelaide, a marginal seat which historically has alternated between the Liberal and Labor parties. It has been held since 2004 by Kate Ellis of the Labor party.In the South Australian House of Assembly, Adelaide is within the Electoral district of Adelaide. Since the March 2010 state election, the seat has been held by Rachel Sanderson of the Liberal party.