Light's Vision

The first surveyor-general of Adelaide, South Australia, Colonel William Light designed a layout and development programme for the city. This plan is now known as "Light's Vision". Notable aspects of Light's plan are that the city centre is laid out in a grid-like pattern, with squares in the centre of the city and in the centres of the four quarters of the city, and the city is surrounded by Parklands.

Legend has it that William Light stood on Montefiore Hill (in North Adelaide) in 1837, pointed at what would one day become the Adelaide city centre, and began planning the city. This moment is commemorated by a statue by Glaswegian sculptor Birnie Rhind on Montefiore Hill (moved from its original Victoria Square position in 1938), pointing at the City of Adelaide below. With the passage of time, both the commemorative statue and the piece of land on which it stands have also come to be referred to as "Light's Vision", rather than its official full name "Light's Vision commemoration".

Light's decision on Adelaide's location was initially unpopular among the settlers, including with South Australia's first governor, John Hindmarsh, but Light persisted and eventually managed to convince Hindmarsh.

Behind this statue (north and north-east) is Aquinas College, which is affiliated with the University of Adelaide. To the north-west is Carclew. In front of the statue are parklands which include the Adelaide Oval and Memorial Drive, and, of course, a view over the Adelaide city centre which is the realisation of "Light's Vision".

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