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Dictionary of Sydney

The Dictionary of Sydney
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Norman Selfe, civil engineer c1900

The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.

Norman Selfe, civil engineer c1900

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

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Built environment Selfe, Norman

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Civil engineering

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Selfe, Norman

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State Library of New South Wales

Built environment

Built over tracks, campsites, rock art and middens used for thousands of years before the dispossession of the Aboriginal people, Sydney's early haphazard development was given form by public buildings. As public transport developed, suburbs spread, and throughout the twentieth century, town planners struggled with developers to direct the form and extent of the city. After World War II, city buildings got taller, outer suburbs sprang up ever further away, and issues of heritage and architecture were contested. In the twenty-first century, concerns about environment, urban density, public transport and renewed infrastructure are driving change.

Selfe, Norman

Engineer, naval architect, inventor, urban visionary and advocate of technical education, Norman Selfe was one of Sydney's most energetic and civic-minded citizens. His vision for Sydney included a harbour crossing decades before the Harbour Bridge was built, and an independent system of technical education long before the advent of TAFE. During his lifetime, his efforts were not successful, but many of his innovative ideas were later realised.

Civil engineering

Selfe, Norman

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Engineer, designer and activist, whose visionary plans for Sydney's harbour crossing and education system were not realised until after his death.