Topic 9B: Suburban Heaven or Hell

Suburban Heaven or Hell

By Clarice Egan

In the 1950s Melbourne’s society was recovering, rebuilding lives and homes after the war and the Great Depression. During the Great Depression there was a shortage of construction opportunities and materials penetrated by a decline in value of building activity. When soldiers returned from WWII a severe housing shortage was evident and triggered new developments on the urban fringe. Melbourne was subject to suburbanisation: an outward push on the urban fringe due to the middle-class ideals of community, family, nature and home ownership. Growth in suburbia lead to a sprawl city form resulting in challenges including social exclusion and generally long commutes to work. However, women in these outer suburbs became ambassadors for the community, aiming to strengthen bonds with families, improve lives for young children and ultimately create a sense of urban identity. There were divisions between the middle-class slowly building lives on the picturesque urban fringe and the inner city working-class neighbourhoods that were seen as shantytowns. Through urban reform efforts it was clear the perception of home was set by the middle-class and socio-culturally appropriated to the multicultural working-class. Complexities within this issue can be tied to misunderstanding of the home for different socio-economic classes, which encompassed both positive and negative aspects.

Attractions to suburbia in Melbourne in the mid 20^th century can be linked to the influence of the “American Dream” and the values of Angelo middle-class Australians. The influence from America stems from a lack of spatial boundaries, the conceived right to own a vehicle, house and backyard for the family and entertainment, and the freedom that follows this lifestyle. This ideal was further entrenched in the middle class ideal for single-family home ownership, division of public and private spaces and domestic mother roles. Influential words by leaders such as Robert Menzies, the Prime Minister of Australia in 1942 who gave a speech called “The Forgotten People”. This speech directly appealed to the middle-class desires by referring to a family home, a domestic realm separate from the public, where the wife and children are.

Life in the outer suburbs faced challenges from the beginning that were somewhat overcome through hard work of men and women developing these estates into communities. A disadvantage due to outer location was infiltrated by lack of services and transport in the outer suburbs leading to feelings of social isolation, and eventually a higher car dependency. Development of more than just housing was needed on to avoid seclusion from infrastructure, and develop the community. The men would work during the week and due to a lack of materials; build their homes on the weekends and after work. It was then the women’s responsibility to fulfil domestic duties, raise the children and create a sense of community identity. This is evident in the Peter Lalor Housing Estate in Melbourne’s north which began development in 1948 and was to be brick veneer or timber detached homes in groups of 4-5. The estate design was influenced by the Australian garden suburb design with a plan of curvilinear roads and plans for a railway reserve, which was not constructed for almost 10 years, leaving families with initial feelings of social and locational exclusion. However, a community was formed after many years of hard work by the Lalor Women’s Social Club. The women of Lalor understood the importance of early childhood education and acted in the 1950’s to develop the ‘Kinderhall’  pre-school and a Sunday school there which was very successful in activating the area and giving power to the Women.

Image 1: Original 1950s house in Lalor.

During this time the reality of home differed greatly between the working-class and the middle-class. Through an examination of these realities it is clear that these desires were set by the white Australian middle-class and were not appropriate to the working-class living in the inner city suburbs. These different understandings of home were evident in the building designs of domestic residences at the time. Middle-class homes of the time single family detached house in suburbs, small house in suburbs, as seen in image 1. In comparison, working-class homes were terrace style, attached wall-to-wall and built consecutively and poorly constructed (image 2). As these working class neighbourhoods were generally unsanitary, had a higher incidence of disease and crime, this prompted the VHC to complete an urban reform plan.

 
The Victorian Housing Commission misconstrued the idea of “home” in the 1950 s and 60s by adopting high-rise, modernist buildings as an urban reform attempt. Architectural design of the modernist era constituted domestic dwelling ideals for utilitarian houses. Minimalizing labor and saving space while still smooth in design. These prefabricated apartment buildings however are overwhelming to look at with tiny windows surrounded by concrete and steel. These small flats were botched modernist mass constructions of what had to become homes. Considerations of what was a home for the people living in the inner city were not taken, and rather middle-class ideals were applied to the masses. Some of the commission blocks in south Melbourne were 30 stories high and internationally recognised as feats of technology and material advances in modernism. The reconstruction of inner city areas is multifaceted because many homes were in need of renovation and there was much violence in these neighbourhoods, however appropriating a completely different style of living did not fit the values of the working-class. For the working class living in inner city areas such as Carlton and Collingwood, work was not always separate from the domestic realm, meaning they would own businesses providing services such as shoe repairs from their own home, this was not feasible from a tiny apartment. There were complaints that there is not enough social space to accommodate families, and the buildings are generally unwelcoming.
 

Image 2: Terrace style homes in Carlton replaced by housing commission, 1964.

 

 
Image 3: Housing Commission Flats in Collingwood, Nick Carson 2008.

Postwar middle-class ideals for a better life in the suburbs lead to the sprawling urban landscape. Suburban estates initially produced feelings of social exclusion due to the far out location before the transformation to a community with a sense of belonging. Inner city suburbs were seen as dirty, dangerous slums and partially redeveloped by the Victorian Housing Commission to high-density apartment towers, which was not always suitable for dwellers. Evidently, the significance of home and neighbourhood is complex and different for everyone and cannot be blanket generalised for a whole population.

References:

Andrews, F 2014. Parents’ Experiences of Raising Pre-school Aged Children in an Outer-Melbourne Growth Corridor. Health & Place, vol. 27, pp. 220-228.

Carlton, B 1999. “Machine living: the discourses and ideologies of spatial order which informed the high rise development of the Housing Commission Victoria, 1950-1970. Melbourne Historical Journal, vol. 27, pp. 100-117.

Carson, N 2008, An ‘S-shaped’ 1960’s high rise on Wellington Street in Collingwood, Wikipedia, viewed 4/5/15, < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Housing_Commission_of_Victoria>

Helms, D 2012. Peter Lalor Housing Estate: Heritage Significance Assessment. City of Whittlesea: Context Pty Ltd.

Hvattum, M 2004. Tracing modernity: Manifestations of the modern in architecture and the city. London: Routledge.

Pacione, M 2014. Urban Problems and Planning in the Developed World. London: Routledge Revivals.
Pascoe, C 2011. One little piece of earth: ideals and realities of 1950s homes’. Spaces Imagined, Places Remembered: Childhood in 1950s Australia, Newcastle Upon Tyne Cambridge Scholars Publishing, pp. 89-111

Unknown 1964, Terrace style homes in Carlton replaced by housing commission, Herald Sun Image Library viewed 4/5/15. <http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/haunting-images-of-the-streets-that-were-once-home-to-melbournes-slums/story-fnkd6ppg-1227016672854>

Warr, D 2013. ‘Everybody’s Different’: Struggles to Find Community on the Suburban Frontier. Housing studies, vol. 28, no. 7, pp. 971-992.