Academy Travel Lecture Program

Few cities anywhere in the world can claim to have been so thoughtfully conceived. Adelaide was established in 1836 as a free colony — no convicts, no chaos — but rather a commercially driven venture shaped by civic ambition and a remarkably clear idea of what a great city should look like. 

The man entrusted with translating that ambition into streets and squares was Colonel William Light, a soldier, painter, linguist and polymath whose elegant plan for the city remains one of the great achievements of urban design in the southern hemisphere.

Yet Light's plan was fiercely contested at the time, and the man himself was a figure of considerable controversy. That history has so thoroughly vindicated his choices makes the story all the more compelling.

In this lecture, Kenneth Park traces Adelaide's development from its founding through the evolution of its great public institutions, boulevards, and green spaces, asking what it is about Colonel Light's vision that continues to make this city such a delight to inhabit and explore.