Re-manufacturing the city : Geelong 1945-1993

This thesis examines the history of Geelong, a smaller Australian city, and the experience of its people, through its rise, fall and recovery, between the end of the Second World War and the early 1990s. Through most of the twentieth century, Geelong’s prosperity rested on its role as a factory town. Industrialisation had begun in the nineteenth century, when woollen mills were established. With a port and good access to the neighbouring metropolis, Melbourne, a selection of multinational companies established branch plants in Geelong between the 1920s and the 1960s. This thesis follows Geelong through the Fordist heyday of the long post-War boom, the sudden collapse of that era in the 1970s, and into the following decades, as the people of Geelong sought to reorient themselves and their city. Geelong’s history has been powerfully shaped by international and national events and ideas, but its details challenge conventional narratives of the post-War boom, and of the deindustrialisation that followed. Drawing on archival sources, newspapers, corporate publications and oral histories, this study employs a multi-disciplinary approach to urban history. Combining these sources and modes of analysis provides a multifaceted picture of how the city changed over half a century, and how its residents have responded to the opportunities and challenges of their times. Geelong’s history both parallels and disrupts conventional narratives of the post-War boom and deindustrialisation, making it an important location for studying the recent past. The long post-War boom transformed Geelong. Fordist modernity shaped the way that planners and marketers interpreted its form and representation as high technology industries invested heavily, superseding the industries that had supported the city in past. The population almost trebled as people came to the city and established new lives in the stability of this exceptional period. In the early 1970s, when the long post-War boom came to a sudden end the foundations of Geelong’s prosperity were shown to be weak. The contrast between the big dreams of the late post-War boom and the realisation that the city was inadequately prepared for a post-industrial economy provides striking evidence of how little thought had been given to what might come next. While the long boom had given Geelong the appearance of standing as an independent urban centre, these years and the decades that followed showed just how much the city’s future was tied to Melbourne. Through the 1980s and into the 1990s, Geelong’s residents and leaders tried to adapt to these new conditions. New ideas about the city and its form were proposed, including the redevelopment of the Central Business District’s waterfront and retail core. Just as modernist ideas shaped ideas in the post-War era, so were new, post-modern approaches applied in the new era, further demonstrating the flexibility and resilience of the city’s leaders. Continuing deindustrialisation saw the city descend into a long period of high unemployment, but in the memories and actions of the city’s residents the boom continues shape the city’s identity.