Peter Firman Harrison (21 October 1918 — 30 October 1990), town planner, was a champion of the Griffin Plan for

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

and an influential advocate for the public interest in the development of Australia's national capital.

Early career

Harrison grew up in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. Between 1934 and 1951, he undertook part-time architecture studies, before switching to town planning studies, while working as a draftsman at AGL, the Commonwealth Department of the Interior, Commonwealth Department of Works and Housing, and the Cumberland County Council. He was appointed senior lecturer in town planning at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

in 1951. Harrison was a member of the Royal Australian Planning Institute committee which argued, in a submission to the Senate Select Committee on the Development of

in 1955, that the Griffin Plan for the national capital should be adopted.

Professional life in Canberra

The Menzies Government established the

National Capital Development Commission The National Capital Authority (NCA) is a statutory authority of the Australian Government that was established to manage the Commonwealth's interest in the planning and development of Canberra as the capital city of Australia. Timeline of th ...

(NCDC) in 1958 and, in early 1959, appointed Harrison its first Chief Town Planner. From that position, Harrison strongly advocated for development consistent with the Griffin Plan developed by

Walter Burley Griffin Walter Burley Griffin (November 24, 1876February 11, 1937) was an American architect and landscape architect. He designed Canberra, Australia's capital city, the New South Wales towns of Griffith, New South Wales, Griffith and Leeton, New So ...

. Harrison devised the 'Y plan', adopted by NCDC in 1967, which allowed for the expansion of Canberra consistent with the preservation of the open character of a city separated by bushland. In 1967, Harrison was appointed Senior Research Fellow at the Urban Research Unit at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

(ANU) in Canberra. ANU Urban Research Unit colleague, Pat Troy, recalled one of Harrison's tools, in response to challenging planning proposals, was to apply the "mother test" — "Would my mother live in it?". Fellow Urban Research Unit colleague Max Neutze described Harrison's influence there as "pervasive", and many theses and publications produced by staff and students were influenced by him. "Peter believed strongly that large city centres were inefficient creations of speculative development," Neutze wrote. "He always insisted that development should serve the needs of people, not just line the pockets of investors." Harrison was awarded a life fellowship of the

Royal Australian Institute of Architects The Australian Institute of Architects, officially the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (abbreviated as RAIA), is Australia's professional body for architects. Its members use the post-nominals FRAIA (Fellow), ARAIA (Associate Member) an ...

in 1971, which he resigned in 1990, in protest at the RAIA ACT Chapter's position on Canberra's development. He was appointed a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

(AM) in 1980, but he returned it in 1985 in protest against trends in Canberra's development. To the end he was a staunch advocate of the Griffin plan and intervened publicly to defend it. Harrison died in Canberra on 30 October 1990. His papers are held at the

National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...

in Canberra. The Canberra suburb of Harrison, is named in his honour.

References

Selected publications

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Peter 1918 births 1990 deaths Academic staff of the Australian National University Academic staff of the University of Sydney Australian urban planners Former members of the Order of Australia