Melbourne

Melbourne is the second most populous city in Australia, with a metropolitan area population of approximately 3.8 million (2007 estimate). Located around Port Phillip Bay in the country's south-east, Melbourne is the state capital of Victoria. In 2004 and 2005, an Economic Intelligence Unit survey ranked Melbourne at the top of their list of the World's Most Livable Cities.

Melbourne is a major centre of commerce, industry and cultural activity. The city is often referred to as Australia's "sporting and cultural capital" and it is home to many of the nation's most significant cultural and sporting events and institutions. Melbourne is notable for its mix of Victorian and contemporary architecture, its extensive tram network and Victorian parks and gardens, and its diverse, multicultural society. It was the host city of the 1956 Summer Olympics and the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

Melbourne was founded by free settlers in 1835, 47 years after the first European settlement of Australia, as a small pastoral settlement situated around the Yarra River. Transformed rapidly into a major metropolis by the Victorian gold rush in the 1850s, "Marvellous Melbourne" became Australia's largest and most important city by 1865, but was overtaken by Sydney as the largest city in Australia during the early 20th century.

Melbourne served as the capital city of Australia from the time of the new nation's Federation in 1901, until Federal Parliament moved to the new, purpose-built capital, Canberra, in 1927.

History

The area of the Yarra River and Port Phillip that is now Melbourne was first settled by the British in 1835. These settlers came from Launceston, Tasmania (then known as Van Diemen's Land). The area was already inhabited by the indigenous Kulin people. A transaction was negotiated for 600,000 acres (2,400 km²) of land from eight Wurundjeri chiefs; this was later annulled by the New South Wales government (then governing all of eastern mainland Australia), which compensated the settlers.

In 1836, Governor Bourke declared the city the administrative capital of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales, and commissioned the first plan for the Hoddle Grid in 1837. The settlement was named Melbourne in the same year after the British Prime Minister William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, who resided in the village of Melbourne in Derbyshire. Melbourne was declared a city by Queen Victoria on 25 June 1847.

The state of Victoria was established as a separate colony in 1851 with Melbourne as its capital. With the discovery of gold in Victoria in the 1850s, leading to the Victorian gold rush, Melbourne grew rapidly, providing the majority of service industries and serving as the major port for the region. The city became a major finance centre, home to several banks and to Australia's first stock exchange (founded in 1861). During the 1880s Melbourne was one of the largest cities in the British Empire. This period saw the construction of many high-rise Victorian buildings, Coffee Palaces, terrace housing, grand boulevards and gardens throughout the city. Examples of this Victorian architecture still abound in Melbourne. So impressed was journalist George Augustus Henry Sala during his visit in 1885 that he coined the phrase "Marvellous Melbourne" to describe the booming city, a phrase which stuck and is used by its locals and the media to this day.

The brash boosterism which typified Melbourne during this time came to a halt in 1891 when a world economic depression hit the city's economy, sending the finance and property industries into chaos. The effects of the depression on the city were profound, although it did continue to grow slowly during the early 20th century.

At the time of Australia's Federation on 1 January 1901, Melbourne was specified as the temporary seat of government and remained the national capital until 1927, when the Federal parliament was moved to the planned city of Canberra. The first Federal parliament was convened on 9 May 1901 in the Royal Exhibition Building.

Melbourne was the Allied Pacific Headquarters from 1942 to 1944 as General Douglas MacArthur established Australia as a launch base for Pacific operations. During World War II, Melbourne industries thrived on wartime production and the city became Australia's leading manufacturing centre. After the war, Melbourne expanded rapidly, with its growth boosted by an influx of immigrants and the prestige of hosting the Olympic Games. Australia's mining boom between 1969 and 1970 proved beneficial to Melbourne, with the headquarters of many of the major companies (BHP, Rio Tinto and many others) based in the city. Nauru's booming mineral economy fuelled several ambitious investments in Melbourne such as Nauru House. Melbourne remained Australia's business and finance capital until the late 1970s, when it began to lose this primacy to Sydney.

Melbourne experienced the worst of Victoria's economic slump between 1989 to 1992. In 1992, a newly elected Victorian government began a campaign to restore the economy with an aggressive development campaign of public works and major events centred on Melbourne and the promotion of the city as a tourist destination. Major projects included the Melbourne Museum, Federation Square, the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre, Crown Casino and CityLink tollway. Other strategies included the privatisation of some of Melbourne's services including power and public transport, and a reduction in funding to public services such as health and education.

Since 1997, Melbourne has maintained significant population and employment growth. There has been substantial international investment in the city's industries and property market, and 2006 figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that since 2000 Melbourne has sustained the highest population and economic growth rate of any Australian capital city.

Geography

Melbourne is located in the south-eastern part of mainland Australia. Geologically it is built on the confluence of Quaternary lava flows to the west, Silurian mudstones to the east and Holocene sand accumulation to the southeast along Port Phillip. The city's suburbs extend along the Yarra Valley toward the Yarra and Dandenong Ranges to the east, down towards the Mornington Peninsula and the city of Frankston, along the Maribyrnong River and its tributaries north towards the foothills of the Macedon Ranges, and along the flat volcanic plain country towards Werribee and Geelong to the south-west.

The original city (known today as the central business district or CBD) is laid out in the mile-by-half-a-mile Hoddle Grid, its southern edge fronting onto the Yarra.

Melbourne is typical of Australian capital cities in that it was built with the underlying notion of a "quarter acre home and garden" for every family, often referred to locally as the Australian Dream. Much of metropolitan Melbourne is accordingly characterised by low density sprawl. The provision of an extensive railway and tram service in the earlier years of development encouraged this low density development, mostly in radial lines along the transport corridors.
Melbourne is often referred to as Australia's garden city, and the state of Victoria was once known as "the garden state". There is an abundance of parks and gardens in Melbourne, many close to the CBD with a variety of common and rare plant species amid landscaped vistas, pedestrian pathways and tree-lined avenues. There are also many parks in the surrounding suburbs of Melbourne, such as in the municipalities of Stonnington, Boroondara and Port Phillip, south east of the CBD.

Climate

Melbourne has a moderate oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb). Melbourne's climate is notable for its changeable weather conditions. This is due in part to the city's flat topography, its situation on Port Phillip Bay, and the presence of the Dandenong Ranges to the east, a combination that creates weather systems that often circle the bay. The phrase "four seasons in one day" is part of popular culture and observed by many visitors to the city.

Melbourne is colder than most other Australian capital cities in winter. The lowest maximum on record is 4.4 degrees Celsius, on July 4, 1901. However, snowfalls are extremely rare: the most recent occurrence of sleet in the CBD was on July 25, 1986 and the most recent snowfalls in the Dandenongs were on August 10, 2005 and November 15, 2006. There has not been a major snowfall in Melbourne since 1951, when moderate cover was recorded in both the CBD and suburbs. More commonly, Melbourne experiences frosts and fog in winter.

During the spring, Melbourne commonly enjoys extended periods of mild weather and clear skies. Melbourne is also known to have hot, dry summers, with maximum temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius. The hottest temperature on record was 45.6 degrees Celsius on 13 January 1939 during a four-day nationwide heat wave.

In 2006, Melbourne, like most of Australia, experienced one of the worst droughts on record. 2006 was among the driest years on record with virtually no rainfall in September and October – usually two of the wettest months of the year. Higher than average temperatures were recorded. In a very rare occurrence, it actually snowed in more elevated parts of the metropolitan area on 25 December 2006, in the early stages of the Southern Hemisphere summer.

It was officially announced on May 15, 2007 that the previous 12 months had seen a record low rainfall. The official results of 316mm from May 16 2006 to May 15 2007 show the lowest amount of rainfall since records began in 1855. The normal average rainfall is 653.2mm. Because of this record low rainfall, Melbourne has experienced ever increasing levels of water restrictions for over 9 months.

Government

The Melbourne City Council governs the City of Melbourne, which takes in the CBD and a few adjoining inner suburbs. However the head of the Melbourne City Council, the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, is frequently treated as a representative of greater Melbourne (the entire metropolitan area), particularly when interstate or overseas. The current Lord Mayor is John So.

The rest of the metropolitan area is divided into 30 local government areas. All these are designated as Cities, except for five on the city's outer fringes which have the title of Shire. The local government authorities have elected councils and are responsible for a range of functions (delegated to them from the State Government of Victoria under the Local Government Act of 1989). These include planning, waste management, public space, child-care and preschool facilities, local festivals and cultural activities, services to the elderly, supervision of public health and other similar matters. Councils levy rates from their residents to pay for these services. The councils are collectively represented by the Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV).

Melbourne's dominance of Victoria's population and economy means the Victorian state government is also effectively the city government of greater Melbourne. Most city-wide government activities are controlled by the state government. These include public transport, main roads, traffic control, policing, education above preschool level, and planning of major infrastructure projects. Because three quarters of Victoria's population lives in Melbourne, state governments have traditionally been reluctant to allow the development of city-wide governmental bodies, which could create a rival to the state government. For this reason, the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works, which had become a powerful semi-autonomous authority, was abolished in 1992.

Economy

Melbourne is a very large commercial and industrial centre. It is home to three of Australia's largest corporations: Telstra, BHP Billiton and the National Australia Bank, and also to the Business Council of Australia, the Australian Council of Trade Unions and many of the companies listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. Many multinational corporations (approximately one-third of the 100 largest multinationals operating in Australia as of 2002) also have their main Australian office in Melbourne. The demand for office space means that there are many skyscrapers in Melbourne (although the tallest, the Eureka Tower (at 300m above street level) is mostly residential). The tallest office tower, the Rialto Towers (251m above street level) is also the tallest office building in the Southern Hemisphere and houses an observation deck.

Melbourne is home to Australia's largest seaport and much of Australia's automotive industry, which include Ford and Toyota manufacturing facilities, and the engine manufacturing facility of Holden. It is also home to many other manufacturing industries. In mid-November 2006, Melbourne was host to the summit of G20 finance ministers, amid violent protests.

Melbourne is also a major technology hub, with a strong ICT industry that employs over 60,000 people (one third of Australia's ICT workforce), has a turnover of AUD$19.8 billion, and has export revenues of $615 million. In a recent study, out of the world's 50 most influential financial cities, Melbourne was placed at number 34, ahead of major cities such as Dubai, Bangkok and KualaLumpur.

Most recent major infrastructure projects, such as the redevelopment of Southern Cross Station (formerly Spencer Street Station), have been centred around the 2006 Commonwealth Games, which were held in the city from 15 March to 26 March 2006. The centrepiece of the Commonwealth Games projects was the redevelopment of the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the stadium used for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Games. The project involved rebuilding the northern half of the stadium and laying a temporary athletics track at a cost of $434 million.

Construction began in February 2006 of a $1 billion 5000-seat international convention centre, Hilton Hotel and commercial precinct adjacent to the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre to link development along the Yarra River with the Southbank precinct and multi-billion dollar Docklands redevelopment.

Tourism plays an important role in Melbourne's economy, with approximately 7.6 million domestic visitors and 1.88 million international visitors in 2004.

Demographics

Today Melbourne is a diverse and multicultural city. Almost a quarter of Victoria's population was born overseas, and the city is home to residents from 233 countries, who speak over 180 languages and dialects and follow 116 religious faiths.

A person from Melbourne is referred to as a Melburnian.

Melbourne was transformed by the 1850s gold rush; within months of the discovery of gold in August 1852, the city's population had increased by nearly three-quarters — from 25,000 to 40,000 inhabitants. Thereafter, growth was exponential and by 1865, Melbourne had overtaken Sydney as Australia's most populous city. By 1900, however, Sydney and Melbourne were the same size, and by 1902, a year after Federation, Sydney had overtaken Melbourne as the largest urban centre in Australia.

In common with the rest of the continent, the earliest inhabitants of the broad area that later became Melbourne were Indigenous Australians — specifically, the Bunurong, Wurundjeri and Wathaurong peoples. Melbourne is still a centre of Aboriginal life — consisting of local groups and indigenes from other parts of Australia — with the Aboriginal community in the city numbering 12,015 persons (0.4 per cent of the population) according to the 2001 Census.
As with the rest of Australia, the first European settlers in Melbourne were British and Irish. These two groups accounted for nearly all arrivals before the gold rush, and supplied the predominant number of immigrants to the city until the Second World War. (Indeed, Victoria — and Melbourne in particular — attracted a greater proportion of Irish than other Australasian colonies.) Nonetheless, large numbers of Chinese, Germans and United States citizens were to be found on the goldfields and subsequently in Melbourne. The various nationalities involved in the Eureka Stockade revolt nearby give some indication of the migration flows in the second half of the nineteenth century.

In the first half of the twentieth century, alongside the usual British and Irish migrants, Melbourne began to receive steady trickles of Italians and Greeks, as did rural New South Wales and Western Australia. At the time, these inflows were considered insignificant, but with hindsight these early groups were effectively pioneers of two of the city's more numerous contemporary communities.

In the aftermath of the Second World War, Melbourne experienced an unprecedented influx of arrivals from Mediterranean Europe — primarily Greece and Italy, but also Cyprus and Turkey. The sheer numbers of Greeks and Italians — and their Greek Australian and Italian Australian children — soon led to Melbourne being referred to as "the third largest Greek city in the world" and "Little Italy". Certainly, Melbourne is the centre of Greek Australian life. According to the 2001 Census, there were 151,785 ethnic Greeks in the metropolitan area, and 40.4 per cent of all Greek Australians live in Melbourne.

However, the Greek proportion of city's population (3.8 per cent) is in fact second to that of the Italian: in 2001, 247,719 persons stated they were of Italian ancestry, accounting for 31.0 per cent of all Italian Australians and 6.2 per cent of Melbourne's population. What is more, both groups are outnumbered by those claiming "Australian" — 959,822 persons or 24.0 per cent — English — 929,314 persons or 23.2 per cent — or Irish — 319,977 persons or 8.0 per cent — ancestry. Those claiming a Chinese background are the sixth largest ethnic group in Melbourne, accounting for 146,287 census responses and 3.7 per cent of the city's total inhabitants.

With regard to birthplace, a far higher proportion of Melbourne residents in 2001 were born overseas than the Australian average: 34.8 per cent compared to a national average of 23.1 per cent. In common with the rest of Australia, Britain was the most commonly reported country of birth, with 158,139 responses (4.7 per cent). This was followed by Italy with 80,109 (2.4 per cent), Greece with 55,574 (1.7 per cent) and the People's Republic of China with 35,844 (1.1 per cent).

Linguistically, Melbourne is one of Australia's most diverse urban centres, though according to 2001 Census data, over two-thirds of people in Melbourne speak English only at home — 2,316,755 persons or 68.8 per cent. Italian is the second most common home language, spoken by 133,907 residents or 4.0 per cent. Greek is third with 118,394 habitual users (3.5 percent) and the Chinese languages are fourth with 110,645 speakers (3.3 per cent). 84.2 per cent of those born overseas living in the city spoke English exclusively, "very well" or "well".

In terms of religion, Christianity is the most professed faith in Melbourne with 2,097,493 followers accounting for 62.3 per cent of residents. Catholicism — 981,974 (29.2 per cent) — Anglicanism — 458,848 (13.6 per cent) and primarily Greek Orthodoxy — 206,877 (6.2 per cent) — were the most numerous Christian sects. According to further census data there were 106,570 Buddhists (3.2 per cent), 87,755 Muslims (2.6 per cent), 37,779 Jews (1.1 per cent) and 23,334 Hindus (0.7 per cent) resident in the city. Melbourne is home to the largest Jewish community in Oceania: four out of ten of Australia's Jews (40.4 per cent) live in the metropolitan area. Melbourne also has the largest number of Holocaust survivors of any Australian city, and the highest per capita concentration of survivors anywhere in the world except Israel.

Although Brisbane and Perth are growing faster in percentage terms, and Victoria's net interstate migration has fluctuated, the Melbourne statistical division has grown by approximately 50,000 people a year since 2003, more than any other Australian city. Attraction of a large proportion of overseas immigrants and interstate migration from Sydney due to more affordable housing are two recent key factors. In recent years, Melton, Wyndham and Casey, part of the Melbourne statistical division, have recorded the highest growth rate of all local government areas in Australia.

Melbourne's population density declined following World War II, with the private motor car and the lures of space and property ownership causing an exodus to the suburbs, mainly to the east. After much discussion (both at general public and planning levels) in the 1980s, the decline has been reversed since the recession of the early 1990s, and the city has seen increased density in the inner and western suburbs. Since the 1970s, Victorian Government planning blueprints such as Postcode 3000 and Melbourne 2030 have aimed to curtail the urban sprawl.

Education

Melbourne is home to some of the nation's oldest educational institutions, including the oldest Law (1857), Engineering (1860), Medical (1862), Dental (1897) and Music (1891) schools, all at the University of Melbourne. The University of Melbourne is also the oldest university in Victoria and the second oldest university in Australia. St. Mary's Primary School, Williamstown, is the oldest school in Victoria and Scotch College (1851) is the oldest secondary school. Ormiston House, the junior school of Camberwell Anglican Girls Grammar School, established in 1848, is the oldest girls' primary school on the Australian mainland. Melbourne is home to the largest secondary school in Australia, Haileybury College.

Melbourne's two largest and most prestigious tertiary institutions are the University of Melbourne and Monash University. Both are members of the Group of Eight. Melbourne University ranked second among Australian universities in the 2006 THES international rankings, after the Australian National University; it was however placed first in 2005.[37] The Times Higher Education Supplement also includes Monash University in its top 40. Monash University is said to be Australia's largest University, based on student numbers. Other universities located in Melbourne include La Trobe University, RMIT University, Swinburne University of Technology, Victoria University and the St Patrick's campus of the Australian Catholic University. Deakin University maintains two major campuses in Melbourne and Geelong, and is the third largest university in Victoria. In recent years, the number of international students at Melbourne's universities has risen rapidly, a result of an increasing number of places being made available to full fee paying students.

Although non-tertiary public education is free, 35% of students attend a private primary or secondary school. The most numerous private schools are Catholic, and the rest are independent (see Public and Private Education in Australia). The most prestigious independent schools are members of the Associated Public Schools of Victoria (APS) or the Associated Grammar Schools of Victoria (AGSV). The main purpose of these two groups is sporting competition. Private schools achieve better results on average in the VCE (the final year certificate) than public schools. The exceptions to this rule are the two academically selective public high schools, Melbourne High School and MacRobertson Girls High School. Because of this, private school students dominate admissions into tertiary institutions.

Most High schools in Melbourne are called 'Secondary Colleges', a remnant of the Kirner Labor government. There are two selective public schools in Melbourne (mentioned above), but all public schools may restrict entry to students living in their regional 'zone'. As a result, some families move suburb in order that their children are eligible to attend a public school in the 'zone'. One effect of this has been to push up property prices in suburbs with public schools perceived to be of good quality. 2004 and 2005.

The city celebrates a wide variety of annual cultural events, including Moomba (a celebration of the Yarra River's recreational use), the Melbourne Fringe Festival, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and the Gay and Lesbian Midsumma festival.

Melbourne is also home to the Queen Victoria Market. This market contains both indoor and outdoor sections. Stalls range from budget clothing and toys and souvenirs to fresh produce.
Federation Square, with its distinctive architecture, large digital screen and public space, has become one of the city's main hubs, attracting congregations, rallies and public viewing of sports events. It is also home to the city's tourist centre. A traditional meeting spot for Melburnians is "under the clocks" at Flinders Street Station. Many of the city's parades, marches and rallies are conducted in the main thoroughfares of Swanston Street and Bourke Street.

Arts and entertainment

Melbourne has a vibrant arts and cultural scene, hosting the annual Melbourne International Arts Festival as a celebration of its artistic tradition.

Performing Arts

Melbourne is strong in the performing arts. It is home to the Australian Ballet. The National Theatre in St Kilda is the oldest ballet school in Australia. Ballet regularly features at the Victorian Arts Centre and the National Theatre. Melbourne is the second home of Opera Australia after it merged with 'Victoria State Opera' in 1996. The Victorian Opera had its inaugural season in 2006 and operates out of various venues in Melbourne.

The Royal Melbourne Philharmonic was formed in 1853, making it Australia's oldest continuously existing musical organisation and the only orchestra in Australia to be bestowed 'royal' status. The Victoria Orchestra, based in Melbourne was Australia's first professional orchestra and performed during 1888–91. The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, first assembled in 1906, is now the city's premier orchestra and tours internationally.

Melbourne has more theatres than any other city in Australia. Live venues include David Marriner's Princess Theatre, Regent Theatre, Forum Theatre, and the Comedy Theatre; the Athenaeum, Her Majesty's Theatre, Palais Theatre and the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art. Several professional theatre companies operate in Melbourne, of which the Melbourne Theatre Company, the oldest professional theatre company in Australia, has the most institutional support of any in Australia. There is also a range of smaller professional theatre companies in Melbourne, including the Malthouse, La Mama in Carlton, the Red Stitch Actors Theatre and Theatreworks in St Kilda and an array of amateur companies that produce a professional standard of musical and straight theatre, such as, The Malvern Theatre Company, CLOC, Catchment Players of Darebin, Altona City Theatre, Windmill Theatre Company and Dandenong Theatre Company.

Melbourne has a large number of buskers (also known as street performers) that perform in the CBD and surroundings. A variety of musical styles and entertainment acts give the CBD a colourful atmosphere. Melbourne’s musical buskers cater to a wide variety of tastes, from rock to world music (such as the Andean act InkaMarka) and indigenous Australian traditions. However, not all buskers are musicians. There are also living statues, street artists and jugglers.
Melbourne is known throughout Australia and the world as a centre of comedy. The Melbourne International Comedy Festival is one of the three largest stand-up comedy festivals in the world. The city is also home to many of Australia's top rating comedy television shows and several of the country's leading comedians either come from the city or call it home.

Music Industry

Melbourne's lively rock and pop music scene has fostered many internationally renowned artists and musicians. The 1960s gave rise to many performers including Olivia Newton-John, John Farnham, Graeme Bell, and folk group The Seekers. The 1970s saw many acts getting their first big breaks on Melbourne's Countdown (music show), including AC/DC and Nick Cave; while INXS and Crowded House are among many who emerged during the 1980s. Successful Melbourne artists include Hunters & Collectors, Nick Cave, Flea (of the Red Hot Chili Peppers), Weddings Parties Anything, TISM, Dead Can Dance, Snog, Jet and Something for Kate. Melbourne is also the home of rock "guru" Ian "Molly" Meldrum.

More recent notable Melbourne acts include Jet, Rogue Traders, Taxiride, The Cat Empire, Vanessa Amorosi, Missy Higgins, Madison Avenue, Anthony Callea and The Living End. Melbourne television shows Young Talent Time and Neighbours gave many singers a launching pad to international success. Local talents to come from these shows include Kylie Minogue, Dannii Minogue, Tina Arena, Jamie Redfern and Jason Donovan, while artists from other states who gained prominence through these shows include Natalie Imbruglia, Delta Goodrem and Natalie Bassingthwaighte.

Melbourne also has a successful independent music industry. A variety of factors — including a relative abundance of venues and independent labels, a thriving street press and strong support from community radio — have made the city an attractive base for both homegrown artists and those from around the country. Notable Melbourne-based independent artists include The Lucksmiths, Sodastream (band), Even, Architecture in Helsinki, Love of Diagrams, Darren Hanlon, Sforzando (band), Peeping Tom and The Volvos.

Visual Arts

Melbourne is strongly associated with the establishment of Australia's visual arts. The city was the birthplace of the Heidelberg School, an Australian art movement of the late 19th century. The school, being largely the work of Melbourne-based artists, was perhaps the first distinctly Australian school of Western art. Many of its most significant works are held in the National Gallery of Victoria, one of Australia's premier collections of visual art. The strong art community culminated in significant artist colonies such as Heidelberg and Montsalvat. Melbourne is home to a large array of public artworks, statues and sculptures. Sculptors such as Deborah Halpern and Bruce Armstrong have played a large part in enhancing many of the city's public spaces with their iconic and larger-than-life works. In more modern times, the city has become well known for stencil graffiti, public art that thrives in the city's numerous laneways.

The city is home to the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, an organisation dedicated to the moving image in all its forms, from film to animation to video games and television. The city has major film festivals including the Melbourne International Film Festival, Melbourne Queer Film Festival, Melbourne Underground Film Festival and Melbourne International Animation Festival, featuring several of the city's major cinemas. The Central City Studios in Melbourne Docklands, constructed in 2005, has seen the production of several big budget films.

Melbourne is also known for fashion. The city, once a leader in the textile industry, retains a small manufacturing base, but has diversified into the more creative areas of the fashion industry. Melbourne is a major participator in Australian Fashion Week, while the Melbourne Fashion Festival is an annual event held in the city. The Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival, Logies and Brownlow Medal dinner are among the biggest annual red carpet events in the country.

Melbourne has a wide variety of architectural design. Australia's oldest architectural firm, and one of the world's oldest, Bates Smart, is from Melbourne. The city is home to Australia's only building on the World Heritage Register, the Royal Exhibition Building. Melbourne has also been home to some of Australia's most prolific architects including Joseph Reed, William Wardell, John James Clark, Charles D'Ebro, Charles Webb, William Pitt, Nahum Barnet, Harry Tompkins Harry Norris, Sir Roy Grounds, Robin Boyd and Frederick Romberg. In recent years, Melbourne has produced some of Australia's best current architectural firms, including international firms Denton Corker Marshall, Fender Katsalidis, Daryl Jackson and Peddle Thorp as well as local award winning trendsetters Edmund & Corrigan, Ashton Raggatt McDougall and Wood Marsh.

Meadia

Melbourne has two major daily newspapers, The Age and the Herald Sun, as well as the free afternoon tabloid mX. There are three commercial television networks: Seven, Nine and Ten; and three public: the ABC, SBS and a community channel, C31.

Melbourne's commercial radio industry is dominated by the DMG Radio Australia, Austereo and Southern Cross Broadcasting networks – all Melbourne-based. DMG Radio Australia stations include Nova 100 and Vega fm, Austereo stations include FOX FM and Triple M. 3AW is consistently the city's highest-rating commercial radio station. Melbourne also boasts a number of community radio stations, of which the best known are SYN FM, 3RRR, 3PBS and Joy Melbourne, the first Australian full-time gay and lesbian radio station. Public broadcasters include 774 ABC Melbourne.

Sports

In a country that is often labelled 'sports mad', Melbourne has a reputation among Australians for being the national sporting capital.

The city hosts many major sporting events including the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival (featuring the 'race that stops the nation', the Melbourne Cup), the Australian Formula One Grand Prix, the Australian round of the MotoGP, the Australian Open Tennis Championship and the AFL Grand Final. Melbourne hosted the first Olympic Games in the southern hemisphere in 1956, as well as the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Melbourne also played host to the 12th FINA World Aquatics Championships in 2007. In 2008 the city will host its first Asia Pacific Outgames which are set to take place between January 30 and February 3.

Melbourne is where Australian rules football originated — the most popular sport in Australia by attendance and viewership. The city is home to nine of the sixteen teams that constitute the Australian Football League (AFL), whose five Melbourne games per week attract an average 35,000 people per game. The AFL Grand Final, one of the biggest sporting events in Australia, is played on the last Saturday of September at the world famous Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), The city also is home to nine out of the thirteen teams of the professional state wide Victorian Football League.

The city also features one professional rugby league team, Melbourne Storm, who play in the national rugby league competition, Melbourne Victory, who play in the the A-League the national football (soccer) competition, the Melbourne Rebels who play in the Australian Rugby Championship, as well as the Melbourne Phoenix and Melbourne Kestrels who play in Commonwealth Bank Trophy, Australia's national netball competition.

Including the MCG, Melbourne is home to over 29 stadiums with a capacity of over 10,000 people. Some venues, such as the Albert Park Formula One track and the Calder Raceway, have large capacities but only temporary structures, while there are numerous suburban horse racing tracks and Australian Rules ovals. In 2000 construction was completed on the Docklands Stadium, capable of seating up to 56,000 people. The stadium was the first in the world to host cricket and football matches under a roof. Telstra has since bought the naming rights to the stadium, now called Telstra Dome.

The city also has large State Cycling, Hockey, Baseball/Softball and Netball centres, and an Ice centre (National Ice Sports Centre, hosting the Australian Olympic Winter Institute) is being constructed in Melbourne Docklands.

The city has hosted several major international sporting events. Annually, Melbourne hosts the Australian Open tennis tournament, one of the four Grand Slam tournaments and the AAMI Classic; the famous Melbourne Cup horse race; the 'Boxing Day' cricket test match held each year from 26 December to 30 December at the Melbourne Cricket Ground; and the Australian Formula One Grand Prix. The Wallabies, Australia's national rugby union team, usually also play at least one Test annually at Melbourne's Telstra Dome. Since 1999, the city has been the biennial host of the International Rules series involving the Australian national team and the Irish national team. The city hosted the 2002 and 2005 Australian Football International Cup.
Since the 1956 Summer Olympics were held in Melbourne, the city has hosted numerous sporting events which rotate host cities. Melbourne co-hosted the 2003 Rugby World Cup, including many pool matches as well as a quarter final – all of which were played at the Telstra Dome; hosted the 2002 World Masters Games; broke new ground as the first city outside the United States to host the World Police and Fire Games in 1995, and the Presidents Cup golf tournament in 1999; and was the first city in the Southern Hemisphere to host the World Polo Championship in 2001. The city has hosted FIFA World Cup qualifiers in both 1997 and 2001. Most recently, the 2006 Commonwealth Games were held in Melbourne. Seventy-one Commonwealth nations competed in the Games.

Melbourne hosted the Australia vs Greece soccer match on 25 May 2006 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which will be followed by two significant World Cup qualifiers in 2008 and 2009.

In July 2006, the Rugby League State of Origin, often considered the flagship event of Australian rugby league, was played at the Telstra Dome. The Rugby League State of Origin has been held several times before in Melbourne (most recently in 1997), and has attracted over 87,000 spectators at the MCG, even though Victoria is not actually one of the states involved. In 2006, the Kangaroos, Australia's national rugby league team, played a Tri-nations test at the Telstra Dome, the first rugby league test in the city for 14 years. In December 2006, the 100th cricket test was played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground as part of The Ashes series attracting a sell-out crowd with as many as 40,000 Britons.

The Victorian government recently won the right to host the Bledisloe Cup rugby union Test in 2007 at the MCG while setting aside a large amount of money for Melbourne’s contribution to an Australian bid for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The Australian Football International Cup returns in 2008 to celebrate 150 years of Australian rules football, as well as a much anticipated return to the AFL State of Origin series.

In 2006, a report by London-based research and consulting firm ArkSports named Melbourne as the best city in the world in which to hold a sporting event, lending some weight to the city's claim of being the 'Sporting Capital of the World'. Out of twenty of the world's top sports cities, Melbourne ranked top for public interest in events, facilities, and number of major events hosted, and was first overall.

The tennis arena of Rod Laver was converted in to the Susie O'Neill pool for the 2007 Swimming World Championships.

Recreation and leisure

Apart from the culture of attending sports events, Melburnians participate in a wide range of recreational and leisure activities.

Australian rules football, cricket, netball and soccer are the most popular participation team sports in Melbourne.

Cycling in Melbourne is a popular pastime,as one can tell from the bevy of cyclists and paths that lie all throughout the city, as well as a spectator sport. Melbourne's flat terrain and extensive off-road paths in green wedges are conducive to riding. Beach Road combines with the Nepean Highway to form a 90-kilometre stretch from Port Melbourne to Sorrento, incorporating the Bayside Trail. It is the city’s most popular training route and attracts cyclists from around the world. Thousands of commuters cycle the roads, bike lanes and bike paths daily. Bicycle Victoria's annual events, Around the Bay in a Day and Ride to Work Day, attract tens of thousands of Melburnians. Other events such as the Herald Sun Tour begin and end in the Melbourne area and there are many local cycling events of varying grades all year round.
Triathlon dominates the Beach Road area during summer, when hundreds of amateurs and professionals dive into Port Phillip Bay on Sundays.

Watersports are a big recreational activity in Melbourne. Rowing on the Yarra River is also popular with universities and schools, and there are many boat-sheds along the river. the Yarra is home to the Head of the River, first raced in 1868 and Australia's oldest. The Oarsome Foursome are also from Melbourne. On Port Phillip Bay, boating is popular, as is jetskiing, kitesurfing and windsurfing on St Kilda Beach.

Parks and Gardens

Melbourne is noted for its parks and gardens, with a ring of parks providing a green lung for the city centre. Perhaps the most notable is the Royal Botanic Gardens. Other notable gardens have been established on outskirts of Melbourne. In particular the Dandenong Ranges has the National Rhododendron Gardens, and several other public gardens. Residential gardening is a popular pastime in Melbourne, and Australia's Open Garden Scheme started in the city.

Entertainment

Melbourne's restaurants are numerous and present a diverse range of cuisines. The city has a reputation as a culinary capital, celebrated by the annual Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. As well as the famous "Little Italy" of Lygon Street in Carlton, other favourite inner city dining locations for Melburnians include Fitzroy Street St Kilda, Brunswick Street Fitzroy, Victoria St Collingwood, the CBD, and the Docklands and Southbank precincts. Flower Drum in Market Lane next to Chinatown is often regarded as Melbourne's finest restaurant by The Age Good Food Guide, as well as been ranked in the top 50 best restaurants in the world by Restaurant Magazine. In 2006, Jamie Oliver selected Melbourne as the location for "Fifteen Melbourne", the Australian restaurant for his reality television show Jamie’s Kitchen Australia.

Shopping or "retail therapy" has been a big part of Melbourne's way of life since the late 19th century, when "doing the Block" was a sign of prestige. Today, the city is home to some of Australia's best shopping strips, such as the famous Chapel Street which stretches many blocks through South Yarra and Prahran, while heritage arcades such as the Block and the Royal Arcade and the CBD's myriad lanes offer a more intimate shopping experience. The large Chadstone Shopping Centre markets itself as the "Fashion Capital". Strip shopping localities include Toorak Village, known for its exclusiveness, and Bridge Road in Richmond, known for its extensive factory outlets. Also there are major shopping centres throughout metropolitan Melbourne such as Westfield Airport West, [[Westfield Southland], Westfield Doncaster, Knox City Shopping Centre and as shown above the fashion capital, Chadstone Shopping Centre.

Dance music is a thriving part of the Melbourne scene; the city is considered the nation’s dance music capital. Dance parties take place most of the year, the city frequently attracting some of the world's best DJs. Some of the biggest nightclubs in the world are found in Melbourne, including the Melbourne Metro Nightclub (2500 capacity) and QBH (2100 capacity). Melbourne is the birthplace of the Melbourne Shuffle, a style of dance that has been exported to South East Asia and continues to evolve to date.

Melbourne in culture

Melbourne has been the setting for many novels, television dramas, and films. Fergus Hume's international best-seller Mystery of a Hansom Cab was set in Gold Rush era Melbourne. Frank Hardy's Power Without Glory tells the story of Melbourne businessman John West (based on the real-life John Wren) and is set in a thinly-disguised Collingwood, then a working-class suburb of Melbourne. Perhaps the best-known novel internationally is Nevil Shute's novel On the Beach. In 1959, it was made into a film directed by Stanley Kramer and starring Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner and Anthony Perkins. The film depicted the denizens of Melbourne quietly slipping off into eternity as the last victims of a global nuclear holocaust. Filmed on location in and around Melbourne, it is perhaps best remembered for a comment Ava Gardner never made, describing Melbourne as "the perfect place to make a film about the end of the world". The purported quote was invented by journalist Neil Jillett. Similar filming was undertaken when a 2000 television movie remake was produced.

The world's first feature film, The Story of the Kelly Gang, was filmed in Melbourne in 1906. Some of the more famous Australian films include Mad Max and The Castle. Melbourne has also produced many talented film and television actors including Cate Blanchett, Guy Pearce, Eric Bana and is home to Geoffrey Rush.

Australian audiences saw Melbourne portrayed in the 1960s–70s Crawford Productions police television drama series Homicide and Division 4. Perhaps better known to a contemporary audience is the soap opera Neighbours, set in the fictional eastern suburb of Erinsborough, which presents a microcosm of suburban Australian life. Other contemporary television shows set in Melbourne include Stingers (an undercover police drama staring Peter Phelps), The Secret Life Of Us, Kath and Kim, Prisoner (known as Prisoner: Cell Block H for US and UK broadcasts), Halifax FP, and MDA.

Singer Paul Kelly has written several well-known songs about aspects of the city close to the heart of many Melburnians, notably "Leaps And Bounds" and "From St Kilda To King's Cross", while Skyhooks also wrote some more tongue-in-cheek songs about Melbourne. "Balwyn Calling", "Carlton (Lygon Street Limbo)" and "Toorak Cowboy" are examples. Native band The Living End purportedly wrote the song "West End Riot" about differences between eastern and western suburbs in the city. Melbourne has produced many popular international vocalists and singers, including 1900s soprano Dame Nellie Melba, who took her name from her native city.
Melbourne-born satirist Barry Humphries created his main character Dame Edna Everage as a comic version of a suburban homemaker. Through her he has performed cutting odes to Melbourne mores and the middle class suburbs of Moonee Ponds and Highett, among others.
Carols by Candlelight, first held in 1938, is a Christmas Eve tradition that originated in Melbourne, held annually at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl.

Infrastructure

Health

The Government of Victoria's Department of Health Services oversees approximately 30 public hospitals in the Melbourne metropolitan region, and 13 health services organisations. The major public hospitals are the Royal Melbourne Hospital, The Alfred Hospital and Austin Hospital, while major private hospitals include Epworth Hospital and St Vincent's. The city is also home to major medical and biotechnology research centres such as St. Vincent's Institute of Medical Research, the Burnet Institute, Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, The Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Baker Heart Institute and the Australian Synchrotron.

Transport

Melbourne has an integrated public transport system known as Metlink. While the public transport network is of considerable size, many of Melbourne's outlying suburbs still face transport difficulties.

Melbourne's public transport system was largely laid out late in the 19th century when trains and trams were the primary methods of travelling to the suburbs. Since this time, the extensive system has been maintained and modernised. The 1950s saw a trend towards private vehicles and freeway construction. This policy has continued with successive governments despite relentless traffic congestion. The result has been a significant drop in public transport modeshare from the 1940s level of around 25% to the current level of around 9%. Melbourne's public transport system was privatised in 1999.

Melbourne's famous tram network is both one of the world's most extensive and the only one comprising more than a single line remaining in Australia, a distinctive feature of the city. Trams are not only a form of transport, but a tourist icon of Melbourne. Visitors are served by a zero-fare City Circle Tram, taking in many tourist sights and there is also a fleet of restaurant trams, the first of its kind in the world. There are almost 300 bus routes and a mostly-electric train system with more than 15 lines. Flinders Street Station is a prominent Melbourne landmark and meeting place. From the 1920s to the 1940s it was the world's busiest passenger station. The city has rail connections with several regional cities in the state, as well as interstate rail services to Sydney and Adelaide, which depart from Melbourne's other major rail terminus, Southern Cross Station.

Melbourne has a high dependency on private cars for transport, with only 7.1% of trips made by public transport. Melbourne has a total of 3.6 million private vehicles using 22,320 km of road, and one of the highest lengths of road per capita. Although it is claimed by the government that no home in Melbourne is more than 400 m from a bus route, many of these routes have an infrequent service and do not operate in the evenings or on Sundays. There is a major campaign that hopes to bring about government change in transport planning and the Public Transport Users Association, the first advocacy organisation for public transport in Australia has been active many years. Major highways feeding into the city include the Eastern Freeway, Monash Freeway and West Gate Freeway (which spans the spectacular Westgate Bridge), whilst other significant road systems include CityLink and the Western Ring Road, Calder Freeway, Tullamarine Freeway (main airport link) and the Hume Freeway which links Melbourne to Sydney.

The Port of Melbourne is Australia's largest container and general cargo port and also its busiest. Melbourne Airport is the nation's second busiest. Station Pier in Port Phillip Bay handles cruise ships and the Spirit of Tasmania ferries which cross Bass Strait to Tasmania.

Melbourne has four significant airports. Melbourne International Airport located at Tullamarine is the city's main international and domestic (Qantas and Virgin Blue and Jetstar) gateway. Tullamarine is the headquarters for low cost airlines Jetstar and Tiger Airways Australia. Avalon Airport, located between Melbourne and Geelong, is a secondary hub of Jetstar, a low cost airline owned by Qantas servicing Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth, Hobart and coastal holiday airports, such as the Gold Coast. It is also used as a freight and maintenance facility. Moorabbin Airport is a significant general aviation airport in the city's south east. Essendon Airport, which was once the city's main airport before the construction of the airport at Tullamarine, handles general aviation and some cargo flights, and is the base of the Victoria Police air wing and air ambulance.

Utilities

Water storage and supply for Melbourne is managed by Melbourne Water, which is owned by the Victorian Government. The organisation is also responsible for management of sewerage and the major water catchments in the region. Water is mainly stored in the largest dam, the Thomson River Dam which is capable of holding around 60% of Melbourne's water capacity, while smaller dams such as the Upper Yarra Dam and the Cardinia Reservoir carry secondary supplies. Like most cities in Australia, Melbourne is currently in a water crisis, with water storages at about 30%. Water restrictions are in place and the state government has considered water recycling schemes for the city.

Melbourne's water supplies have been continually decreasing and approaching dangerously low levels due to drought and as a result of this, in June 2007, the Bracks government announced a $4.9 billion water emergency plan to secure the future of water supplies in Melbourne. The centerpiece of the plan will be the construction of a $3.1 billion desalination plant to be built on Victoria's south-east coast, capable of providing 150 billion litres of water per year to Melbourne, Geelong and Victoria's south eastern region. The desalination plant will be one of the world's largest and Australia's largest and is expected to be completed by 2011. Other projects included in this package is a 70 km pipeline from the Goulburn area in Victoria's north to Melbourne and a new water pipeline linking Melbourne and Geelong.

The main natural gas and electricity to Melbourne are Origin Energy, AGL and Energy Australia. Numerous telecommunications companies operate in Melbourne providing terrestrial and mobile telecommunications services. Electricity for Melbourne is primarily sourced from the coal power stations of Latrobe City.

Sister Cities

Melbourne has six sister cities. They are:

-Osaka, Japan, 1978

-Tianjin, China, 1980

-Thessaloniki, Greece, 1984

-Boston, United States, 1985

-Saint Petersburg, Russia, 1989

-Milan, Italy, 2004

By: www.wikipedia.org