Transcript
REPORTER
REPORTER
East Doncaster is about ten miles north-east of Melbourne. Until recently, it was an area of rolling hills, with old pines sheltering cherry orchards and pear trees. Now, with little regard for its contoured landscape, the private developers are creating a fairly typical outer suburb.
Shot of multiple signs on shop fronts
REPORTER
East Doncaster is a relatively expensive development. Like the Housing Commission, private builders prefer flatter lands. And the majority of people must take what the builders prefer.
ROBIN BOYD
Well, here we are in pretty typical Australian suburbia of the kind which there is going to be very much more, of course, as the years of the century go on. And it's come into a pretty severe critical bashing over the last five years or so, this sort of development, from many architects other than me, and planners and sociologists and economists and comedians from Barry Humphries down. And, indeed, there are a lot of things about it that are far from perfect. The main trouble, I suppose, is that it's a perfect example of private affluence and public squalor, or at least poverty.
Girl walks up to pile of rocks in backyard
ROBIN BOYD
Lack of playing areas, lack of greenery, vast areas of it unsewered or without gas reticulation. No proper public transport. And yet with all this lack of good roads to allow people to move quickly to where they want to go to work or play, we have quite numerous miles of highly finished bituminous tracks on which cars plough more or less through children at play.
Children play cricket on road
ROBIN BOYD
Individually, the design of the houses is criticised, of course, but, really, there's not anything very seriously wrong with them. The modern suburban villa as we see around here is not very imaginative, but it's well-built. It's the same way it's been built for about 100 years. And it offers fairly comfortable living for the average family. But the thing that can be criticised about them is the tremendous similarity of them. While superficially, they're desperately trying to look different and be individual, in fact each house is almost identical inside. It isn't necessary for suburbs to be like this.
Shot of houses set amongst trees
ROBIN BOYD
In most of the state capitals now there are small but successful developments where a variety of better houses are blended with trees and with open space. Here in Melbourne, one of the most successful is Elliston. And this, I think, is what everybody who's planning new towns, new developments, is aiming for - actual living variety, but overall dignity and harmony.
Shots from within modernist house
REPORTER
Although these particular houses are more expensive than the average villa, there's no reason why the same principles should not be applied to cheaper housing.
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