For King and Empire: Australian women and nascent town planning

Two national town planning conferences held in 1917 and 1918 were milestone events in the early development of Australian town planning. Their significance was recognized at the time by planning protagonists and has been elaborated upon in subsequent years by planning historians. Women had a visible presence at both conferences. This paper examines the town planning interests and motivations of the women delegates. It reveals the extent to which many of the women were imperialist and win‐the‐war loyalist. Little scholarly attention has been given to the relationship between gender issues and imperialist sentiment within early twentieth century town planning discourse, yet it is significant in understanding the Australian women’s planning aspirations. The paper shows that the women’s advocacy of better housing and more extensive facilities for children was linked closely to a commitment to ‘improving the race’. It suggests that the objectives were imperialist rather than nationalist: it was the future of t...