Distinguished planner Bob Meyer reflects on the causes and effects of plans and the lack of them

Royal CommissioWhen Governor Phillip started European settlement in Sydney, he thought about more than just a penal colony; he saw an opportunity to build a great city.

Later Governor Macquarie also had a grand vision for a thriving city.

But for all the ideals, few aspects of a grand plan were ever implemented.

By the turn of the 20th century, Sydney had large slum areas and health was a big issue especially after we had an outbreak of the bubonic plague. But Town Planning was an emerging profession.

The NSW Government held a Royal Commission for “The Improvement of the City of Sydney and its Suburbs”

Bob Meyer is the head of planning for Cox Architecture and is an avid historian of planning and its effect on our lives. He has reviewed the report of the Royal Commission and all the other major planning documents from then to the present day.

In this first interview with David Brown, they discuss the transport impacts on the early colony, the life and times of Sydney that lead to and carried out the Royal Commission of Inquiry.