Shaping 'the finest city region in the world': Gordon Stephenson and Canberra's National Capital Development Commission 1960-73.

Canberra, Australia's national capital city, was transformed through the 1960s from a straggling city beautiful on garden city lines, to a modern new city of international standing by the powerful National Capital Development Commission (NCDC), established in 1957. Gordon Stephenson first visited the city in 1954, became a consultant to the NCDC in 1960 and was appointed to the National Capital Planning Committee in 1967. His activities ranged across all scales - residential communities, town centres and the development of a long-term metropolitan planning strategy. Stephenson appears to be an underrated figure in the urban metamorphosis of Canberra through the 1960s. Drawing on a mix of extant primary and secondary sources, this paper sketches the extent of Stephenson's role and influence in Canberra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]