Making Melbourne Modern: Urban Transformation and the 1956 Olympic Games

The 1956 Summer Olympic Games, the first held in the southern hemisphere, transformed the Australian city of Melbourne. It signalled Australia’s coming of age as a sporting nation and as a catalyst for urban change it was unprecedented. A dreary provincial city was forced to conceive and promote itself as modern and forward looking. The need to provide stadia, venues, athletes’ village, and supporting infrastructure meant the recasting of landscapes and urban space on a scale never before seen in Melbourne. The city was dressed for the occasion: 19th century cast iron verandas were removed from shopfronts and new tram stops replaced old ones. Modern art, for the first time, was brought outside into the streets and onto public buildings, in service of modernizing Melbourne’s image. Today, there remains mixed evidence of that urban transformation. Yet, the legacy has been profound. Some individual buildings, elements of infrastructure, and works of art have become heritage landmarks. Others, like the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which stood in as the main athletics stadium at the time, have been demolished or completely replaced. The athletes’ village survived but is now a ghetto for the socially down-at-heel. Not everyone was a winner. Yet, Flinders Park, close to the central business district and next to the Yarra River, which saw temporary facilities erected for the games in 1956, is today a complete sports and entertainment precinct of international standing. Without the Olympic Games, such a development would never have occurred