Queensland’s vibrant capital city, Brisbane, is a laid-back city, no doubt something to do with its subtropical climate. Great year-round weather means residents are happy (Brisbane regularly comes top of surveys for quality of life) and the city has a wealth of green spaces, alfresco dining venues, and even outdoor cinemas.
Things haven’t always been so relaxed, though. The city (named after the Governor of New South Wales turned astronomer, Sir Thomas Brisbane) was built on the site of an old convict colony (Redcliffe), which was originally established in 1823 as a settlement, deliberately distant from Sydney, to which re-offending convicts could be sent as punishment. It soon gained a reputation for being one of the harshest penal settlements in the country.
Private settlement near the area was forbidden for many years, and as the inflow of new convicts decreased steadily, the population began to decline. The area was finally opened up for free settlement in 1842, and settlers took advantage of the abundance of timber in the area. Grazing and farming took hold quickly on the fertile land of the coastal plain, but the convict colony was eventually closed.
Queensland was formally established as a colony separate from New South Wales in 1859 and became self-governing, with Brisbane declared its capital. Severe flooding in the 1890s devastated the city and destroyed the first of several versions of the Victoria Bridge. Even though gold was discovered north of Brisbane, attracting thousands of Europeans and Chinese during the ensuing years, most of the proceeds went south to Sydney and Melbourne. The city remained an underdeveloped, regional outpost, with comparatively little of the grandiose Victorian architecture evident in the southern cities.
The city has come a long way since then, and its hosting of the Commonwealth Games in 1982 and the World Expo in 1988 definitely helped put Brisbane on the map. Today Brisbane enjoys a vibrant economy, and tourism plays an important part in it, as the city is an exciting destination in its own right but also an ideal gateway to other areas of Queensland.
The Central Business District (CBD) is nestled in a bend of the Brisbane River as it lazily meanders to the sea at Moreton Bay. The city itself is a happy mix of the past and the future with lower, older heritage buildings such as the Town Hall and Customs House interspersed with modern skyscrapers towering above them.
Queensland is the fastest growing state in Australia, with 900 people moving to the state a week, and Brisbane, with 1.8 million inhabitants, is the third most populous urban area in Australia, behind Sydney and Melbourne (although it is set to overtake Melbourne in the next few years).
Brisbane has a subtropical climate, with hot, moist summers (from Nov to Apr) and mild, dry winters.