Adelaide city centre

Adelaide Adelaide, South Australia
Adelaide city centre over the Torrens Lake
Population:	18,575 (2010 estimate) 10,229 (2006 census)[1]
Established:	1837
Postcode:	5000
Area:	10.5 km² (4.1 sq mi)
Location:	5 km (3 mi) E of Adelaide Airport 12 km (7 mi) SE of Port Adelaide 9 km (6 mi) NE of Glenelg
LGA:	City of Adelaide
State District:	Adelaide
Federal Division:	Adelaide
Suburbs around Adelaide: Hindmarsh North Adelaide Gilberton Hackney Thebarton Mile End Adelaide Kent Town Rose Park Dulwich Keswick Wayville Unley Parkside Eastwood Glenside

The Adelaide city centre is the innermost locality of Greater Adelaide, known by locals simply as "The City" or "Town". The locality is split into two key geographical distinctions: the city "square mile", bordered by North, East, South and West Terraces; and that part of the Adelaide Parklands south of the River Torrens which separate the built up part of the city from the surrounding suburbs. The locality is home to the parliament of the state of South Australia and many key state government offices. Due to the construction of many new apartments in the city, the population has grown from 10,229 (2006 census)^[1] to an estimated 18,575 (2010).

Contents 1 History 2 Built environment 2.1 Layout 2.2 Street names 3 Politics 4 See also 5 Notes 6 References

History

Prior to the European settlement of South Australia, the Adelaide Plains, on which Adelaide was built, was home to the Kaurna group of Indigenous Australians.

The colony of South Australia was established in 1836 at Glenelg, and the city itself established in 1837. The location and layout of the city is accredited to Colonel William Light (1786-1839) in a plan known as Light's Vision.

Built environment

Adelaide is separated from its greater metropolitan area by a ring of public parklands on all sides. The square mile within the parklands 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 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.

Between North Terrace and South Terrace, all east-west roads change their names as they cross King William Street. Also, travelling north-south, the cross-streets alternate between being wide (up to 4-lanes wide) and narrow (2-lanes wide), with the exception that Grote Street and Wakefield Street are up to 6-lanes wide.

Travelling south from North Terrace, the street pairs are:^[2]

West Terrace		Morphett Street		King William Street		Pulteney Street		East Terrace	Width
	North Terrace		North Terrace		North Terrace		North Terrace		4-lane
	Hindley Street		Hindley Street		Rundle Mall		Rundle Street		2-lane
	Currie Street	Light Square	Currie Street		Grenfell Street	Hindmarsh Square	Grenfell Street		4-lane
	Waymouth Street		Waymouth Street		Pirie Street		Pirie Street		2-lane
	Franklin Street		Franklin Street	Victoria Square	Flinders Street		Flinders Street		4-lane
	Grote Street		Grote Street		Wakefield Street		Wakefield Street		6-lane
	Gouger Street		Gouger Street		Angas Street		Angas Street		4-lane
	Wright Street	Whitmore Square	Wright Street		Carrington Street	Hurtle Square	Carrington Street		2-lane
	Sturt Street		Sturt Street		Halifax Street		Halifax Street		2-lane
	Gilbert Street		Gilbert Street		Gilles Street		Gilles Street		2-lane
	South Terrace		South Terrace		South Terrace		South Terrace		4-lane

Street 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 Commissioners appointed by the British government to oversee implementation of the acts that established the colony, and after various notables involved in the establishment of the colony.

The Street Naming Committee comprised:^[3]

Governor Hindmarsh Judge Jeffcott James Hurtle Fisher (Resident Commissioner) Robert Gouger (Colonial Secretary) Colonel Light (Surveyor General) John Brown (emigration officer)

Osmond Gilles (Treasurer) Thomas Gilbert (storekeeper) John Morphett John Barton Hack Edward Stephens (cashier and accountant of the South Australian Company)[4] Thomas Bewes Strangways

All members of the committee (except Stephens) 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, later the monarch Queen Victoria
• Hindmarsh - Rear Admiral Sir John Hindmarsh, first Governor
• Hurtle - Sir James Hurtle Fisher, first Resident Commissioner
• Light - Colonel William Light, Surveyor General
• Whitmore - William Wolryche-Whitmore MP, a Colonial Commissioner in London

The east-west streets named on 22 December 1836 were:^[5]

• 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^[6]
• 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

Most of these people did not reside in or visit South Australia.

The naming of the streets was completed on 23 May 1837^[3] and gazetted on 3 June.^[7]

East-west streets:

• Carrington - John Abel Smith (Lord Carrington)
• Wright - John Wright, Colonial Commissioner and financier^[8]
• 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^[8]

North-south streets:

• Morphett - John Morphett, member of the South Australian parliament
• Pulteney - Admiral Sir Pulteney Malcolm, British naval officer
• Hutt - William Hutt MP, a Colonial Commissioner

Politics

Since the mid 1990s, Adelaide has consistently favoured the centre-left Australian Labor Party (Labor) at both federal and state elections, although the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia (Liberal) have on occasion obtained a primary vote majority within the suburb's boundaries, and in the 1993 state election, an absolute majority. Under the preferential system in Australia, however, the 15% or more of the vote which typically goes to the Australian Democrats and the Greens consistently favours Labor.

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.^[9]

In the South Australian House of Assembly, Adelaide is within the Electoral district of Adelaide. The seat has mostly been held by Labor, but from 1989 until 2002 was held by Dr Michael Armitage for the Liberals. From 2002 to 2010, it was held by Labor's Jane Lomax-Smith. Since the March 2010 state election, it has been held by Rachel Sanderson for the Liberal party.

Polling place statistics are presented below combining the votes from the five Adelaide booths (Adelaide, Hospital, East, South and West):

2007 Federal Election Source: AEC   Labor 46.5%   Liberal 34.7%   Greens 15.3%   Democrats 2.02%   Family First 1.47%	2004 Federal Election Source: AEC   Labor 42.5%   Liberal 39.8%   Greens 13.0%   Democrats 2.24%   Independent 1.41%	2001 Federal Election Source: AEC   Liberal 39.6%   Labor 34.7%   Democrats 14.9%   Greens 10.5%   One Nation 1.33%	1998 Federal Election Source: AEC   Liberal 39.7%   Labor 38.8%   Democrats 11.0%   Greens 5.31%   One Nation 3.77%
2006 State Election Source: SAEC   Labor 50.2%   Liberal 27.8%   Greens 12.9%   Democrats 3.41%   Family First 2.21%	2002 State Election Source: SAEC   Labor 44.6%   Liberal 34.6%   Greens 8.04%   Democrats 6.30%   No Hoo-Haa 3.17%	1997 State Election Source: SAEC   Labor 36.6%   Liberal 36.4%   Democrats 19.7%   Greens 7.2%	1993 State Election Source: SAEC   Liberal 51.7%   Labor 30.9%   Democrats 10.1%   Dem. Soc. 3.57%   NLP 3.09%

See also

• Adelaide (Greater Adelaide metropolis)
• City of Adelaide (local government area)

Notes

References

1. Spence, Catherine Helen; Beams, Maryan (2006). Susan Magarey, Barbara Wall, Maryan Beams, Mary Lyons. ed. Ever yours, C.H. Spence: Catherine Helen Spence's An autobiography (1825-1910), Diary (1894) and Some correspondence (1894-1910). Wakefield Press. ISBN 9781862546561. 

City of Adelaide Adelaide North Adelaide (Adelaide Park Lands)