Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre (also known as the “Central Business District” or “CBD”) is the hub of the greater geographical area (or “metropolitan area”) and the Census statistical division—of which “Melbourne” is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater geographical area had an approximate population of four million. Inhabitants of Melbourne are called Melburnians.
The metropolis is located on the large natural bay known as Port Phillip, with the city centre positioned at the estuary of the Yarra River (at the northern-most point of the bay). The metropolitan area then extends south from the city centre, along the eastern and western shorelines of Port Phillip, and expands into the hinterland. The city centre is situated in the municipality known as the City of Melbourne, and the metropolitan area consists of a further 30 municipalities.
Melbourne was founded in 1835 (47 years after the European settlement of Australia) by settlers from Van Diemen’s Land. It was named by governor Richard Bourke in 1837, in honour of William Lamb—the 2nd Viscount Melbourne. Melbourne was officially declared a city by Queen Victoria in 1847. In 1851, it became the capital city of the newly created colony of Victoria. During the Victorian gold rush of the 1850s, it was transformed into one of the world’s largest and wealthiest cities. After the federation of Australia in 1901, it then served as the interim seat of government of the newly created nation of Australia until 1927.
Today, it is a centre for the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, sport and tourism. It is the birthplace of cultural institutions such as Australian film (as well as the world’s first feature film), Australian television, Australian rules football, the Australian impressionist art movement (known as the Heidelberg School) and Australian dance styles (such as New Vogue and the Melbourne Shuffle). It is also a major centre for contemporary and traditional Australian music. It is often referred to as the “cultural capital of Australia”.
Melbourne has been ranked as one of the top three World’s Most Livable Cities by the Economist Group’s Intelligence Unit (since 2002), top 10 Global University Cities by RMIT’s Global University Cities Index (since 2006) and top 20 Global Innovation Cities by the 2thinknow Global Innovation Agency (since 2007). The metropolis is also home to the world’s largest tram network. The main airport serving Melbourne is the aptly names Melbourne Airport.
Melbourne is an international cultural centre, with cultural endeavours spanning major events and festivals, drama, musicals, comedy, music, art, architecture, literature, film and television. It was the second city after Edinburgh to be named a UNESCO City of Literature and has thrice shared top position in a survey by The Economist of the world’s most livable cities on the basis of a number of attributes which include its broad cultural offerings.
The city celebrates a wide variety of annual cultural events and festivals of all types, including the Melbourne International Arts Festival, Melbourne International Film Festival, Melbourne International Comedy Festival and the Melbourne Fringe Festival.
The Australian Ballet is based in Melbourne, as is the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. 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.
Notable theatres and performance venues include: The Victorian Arts Centre (which includes the State Theatre, Hamer Hall, the Playhouse and the fairfax Studio), Melbourne Recital Centre, Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Princess Theatre, Regent Theatre, Forum Theatre, Palace Theatre, Comedy Theatre, Athenaeum Theatre, Her Majesty’s Theatre, Capitol Theatre, Palais Theatre and the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art.
There are more than 100 galleries in Melbourne. Most notably it is home to Australia’s oldest and largest art gallery, the National Gallery of Victoria.
Melbourne has a long cinematic history. Indeed, the world’s first feature films were produced in Melbourne and its outer suburbs. Limelight Department’s 1900 Soldiers of the Cross, the world’s first religious epic, anticipated the early 1900s golden age of Melbourne film production—an era marked by the exploration of local history and Australia’s emerging identity. The 1854 civil insurrection of Ballarat was brought to life on the screen in Eureka Stockade, and The Story of the Kelly Gang (the world’s first feature length narrative film and precedent of the “Bushranging drama”) followed the escapades of Ned Kelly and his gang of outlaws. Melbourne filmmakers continued to produce bushranger and convict films, such as 1907′s Robbery Under Arms and 1908′s For the Term of His Natural Life, up until 1912, when Victorian politicians banned the screening of bushranger films for what they perceived as the promotion of crime. Melbourne’s and Australia’s film industries declined soon after and came to a virtual stop in the 1960s. A notable film shot and set in Melbourne during this lull is 1959′s On the Beach. The 1970s saw a major renaissance of Australian film, giving rise to the Australian New Wave, as well as the Ocker and Ozploitation genres, instigated by Melbourne-based productions Stork and Alvin Purple respectively. Other 70s Melbourne films, such as Picnic at Hanging Rock and Mad Max, would achieve worldwide acclaim. 2004 saw the construction of Melbourne’s largest film and television studio complex, Docklands Studios Melbourne, which has hosted many domestic films and television shows, as well as international features Ghost Rider, Knowing, Charlotte’s Web, Nightmares and Dreamscapes and Where the Wild Things Are, among others. Melbourne is also home to the headquarters of Village Roadshow Pictures, Australia’s largest film production company. Famous modern day actors from Melbourne include Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Rachel Griffiths, Guy Pearce and Eric Bana.
UK artist Banksy hailed street art in Melbourne as “Australia’s most significant contribution to the arts since the Aborigines’ pencils were stolen”. The city is often placed alongside New York and Berlin as one of the world’s great street art meccas, and its extensive street art-laden laneways, alleys and arcades were voted by Lonely Planet readers as Australia’s top cultural attraction.
The city is also admired for its exciting mix of vigorous modern architecture which intersects with an impressive range of nineteenth and early twentieth century buildings.
