Neighbourhood Change in Inner Adelaide, 1966-76

Abstract

The inner residential areas of Australian cities have not experienced the neighbourhood decline associated with the restructuring of old British and US industrial cities. Rather, neighbourhood change near the centre of Australian cities during the 1960s and 70s has been characterised by reinvestment in land and structures. Residential rejuvenation in one such city is illustrated with a case study of Inner Adelaide between 1966 and 1976. This involves documenting the regional shift, 1966-76, in the occupational structure of the workforce residing in Inner Adelaide. Next we outline the main features of a typology which is then used to reveal the direction, nature and spatial expression of neighbourhood transition within Inner Adelaide, 1966-76. Lastly, some reasons are advanced for the predominantly upward trajectory of neighbourhood change in the inner areas of large Australian cities.