Paris or New York? Contesting Melbourne’s Skyline, 1880-1958

Abstract

This article examines the building height limit debate in Melbourne, Australia, in the early twentieth century. At issue was whether the city should modernize according to beaux arts planning principles or adopt skyscraper urbanism, which would require raising the city’s building height limit. Skyscraper opponents looked to Paris as a model for growth; skyscraper advocates favored New York. The debate shows the importance of ideal cultural landscapes—Paris and New York—in the imagining and shaping of Melbourne throughout the twentieth century. It also highlights the multiple meanings and expressions of modernity and progress within city contexts.