CITY of LIGHT
A History of Perth since the 1950s
By Jenny Gregory
About the Author
Jenny Gregory is Head, School of Humanities and
Professor of History at the University of Western
Australia. She is past President of the National
Trust (WA) and of the History Council of Western
Australia. Her academic interests include urban
history and heritage. Her publications comprise a
history of Perth’s Scotch College (UWA Press, 1996),
Claremont: a history co-written with Geoffrey Bolton
(UWA Press, 1999), and several edited collections,
including On the Homefront: WA during WWII (UWA
Press, 1996). As Editor-in-Chief (UWA Press, 2009)
she led the team which launched the Historical
Encyclopedia of Western Australia
In 1962 a lone astronaut orbiting the earth sighted a small cluster of lights on the dark
silhouette of Australia’s western coastline – a token of friendship from the people of Perth
that prompted the world’s media to dub this isolated provincial outpost the ‘City of Light’.
City of Light expands this metaphor by shedding new light on the social history of Perth
since the 1950s. Its focus is the city centre and the events that unfolded there.
After a lively sketch of pre-war Perth, Jenny Gregory ventures into the historically uncharted
territory of the post-war era. The result is a frank, incisive and richly detailed investigation
of the city’s growth and transformation over a fifty-year period, from the modernist era of
post-war reconstruction to the mid nineties.
Often cast as a peaceful, sun-drenched lotus land, Perth is shown in a quite different light
here, during a time that saw wild swings from boom to bust, consensus to conflict, riches
to poverty.
There are stories of celebration – the 1954 royal tour, the Commonwealth Games, the
Sesquicentenary, the triumph of the America’s Cup. Of conflict, protest and shame –
the reaction to conscription during the Vietnam War, power struggles over planning and
development, failed heritage battles, the shame of the city’s backstreets and the treatment
of Aboriginal people. Of greed and corruption – from the Poseidon boom of the sixties to
the years of WA Inc. And stories of renewal – the transformation of East Perth and the
endeavour to revitalise the City.
In exploring the city’s past, City of Light provides a significant and insightful contribution
to our understanding of the modern Australian urban experience. It is essential reading for
anyone who cares about the future of Perth.