A settler city by design: Rachel Gallagher, ‘Planning for dispossession: the continuing legacy of settler-colonialism in contemporary urban planning practices’, Cities, 160, 2025, #105793 | settler colonial studies blog

A settler city by design: Rachel Gallagher, ‘Planning for dispossession: the continuing legacy of settler-colonialism in contemporary urban planning practices’, Cities, 160, 2025, #105793

26Feb25

Abstract: Drawing on a case study of Brisbane, Australia, this paper explores the parallels between the historical formation of settler-colonial cities and contemporary urban renewal schemes. Focusing on the development of a penal settlement (1825-) and largescale waterfront redevelopment (1988-), this study demonstrates how use of overt, top-down state power and a degree of authoritarianism is necessary to facilitate both forms of urban restructuring. Archival materials are used to track the transformation of the study areas at a street, lot and building scale, as well as the legislative framework and social and cultural context, to 2024. Findings develop an understanding of the legacy of colonial approaches to land management and property delineation, and how they continue to permeate throughout contemporary planning practices, including the ongoing effects of dispossession and historical revisionism. Like colonial land use planning, largescale urban renewal programs assume a blank slate exists for the transformations envisioned by decision makers, which can be at odds with the reality of peoples’ connection to the land, community identity, property rights and history.

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