From Progressivism to Conservatism: The decline of the Town Planning Association of New South Wales in the 1930s1

Abstract

The 1930s marked a transition in the town planning movement from early progressivism toward a more pragmatic problem-oriented focus setting the scene for wider reforms after World War II. The decade saw a shift from amateur advocacy towards a more professional outlook and organisation. The surviving capital city-based Town Planning Associations which had led the early movement confronted new challenges during this period. Formed in 1913 as the first such body, the Town Planning Association of New South Wales remained active in Sydney on many fronts of city improvement and in campaigning for legislative reform. But its status and authority faltered under changes in leadership, the emergence of rival bodies, and an inability to reconcile the community and professional goals of town planning. By the 1940s the Association paradoxically stood for anti-planning and was critical of plans, planners and planning institutions as inimical to the popular interest. Set against the evolving fortunes of town planning reform over the first third of the twentieth century and the development of Sydney as Australia's largest city, this article examines the activities of the Town Planning Association of New South Wales in the 1930s. They exemplify the struggle of citizen-based planning at a time of change in the organisation and values of town planning practice.