Melbourne cannot be planned as if it were a neutral City of Paradise detached from history; as if its decision-makers were saints, and all its citizens well intentioned angels. Melbourne in the 1970s is not just a major city; nor just a major city based on modern industrial technology. It is also an advanced capitalist city, using the word "advanced" as one does when dealing with age: near the end of its life span, not just ripe but fast becoming rotten.\ud
It is bedevilled therefore with problems of a special kind that spring from capitalism that has reached a stage that is ripe for a fundamental change to a system that is no longer capitalism.\u