Seamus O'Hanlon

Federation Square Melbourne: The First Ten Years Seamus O'Hanlon

After a somewhat difficult gestation and birth, Federation Square - located in Melbourne, Australia - is now ten years old. This book tells the story of those ten years and examines how it is that a place that was once so reviled has ended up so popular and successful, attracting more than nine million visitors in 2011. The book locates the Federation Square story within the paradigm of the new role played by city centers in the economy and culture of the contemporary globalizing world. It also asks questions about the design and management structure of the Square, the tensions between its public and private roles, and about where the line is drawn between private spaces/public spaces in the new leisure-oriented, post-industrial 'spectacle' city of the 21st century.