Paper short abstract:

This paper explores the creation of Melbourne, Australia's Westgate Park, a 40 hectare open space on the site of a former aerodrome, in the 1980s and the landscape decisions made to reimagine the space as 'natural', notwithstanding its position in the shadow of a major river crossing.

Paper long abstract:

Westgate Park is a 40 hectare wetlands and bush reserve on the eastern approaches of the Westgate Freeway, a major thoroughfare connecting the eastern and western suburbs of Melbourne, Australia at the approaches to the city's largest river, the Yarra. Opened in 1985, the park is the subject of historical mythology (for instance, that it was a gift to citizens from the bridge authority management) and includes a host of mysterious built structures, including non-representational sculptures and a small section of the bridge itself as an information centre. It also features a lake which periodically turns pink as a result of naturally occurring algae.

This paper is an exploration of the original landscaping of the park, by innovative local planners, which sought to elide the site's previous use (since the Second World War) as an aerodrome and instead remake what was once flat and sandy ground in the form of hillocks and natural glades, attracting extensive wildlife. It then considers the likely fate of the park in the coming decades, as the overnight rezoning of the surrounding area by a renegade planning minister sees it move from industrial use to residential and educational purposes.

Using original reports, interviews with specialists and users, and historical documents this paper tracks the transition from open, 'empty' space, to wartime aerodrome, to passive recreation 'nature park'. It examines the contextualised phenomenon (and associated social stigma) of a park in a 'forgotten' part of the city, and the possibilities inherent in renewal.