
'A River with a City Problem, not a City with a River Problem': Brisbane and its Flood-Prone River
This article explores the relationship between the Brisbane River and its river-plain dwelling citizens between 1824 and 1900 through four distinctive narratives. The first is praise for the river for its economic and utilitarian potential until severe flooding in 1893 prompts a second
response of incredulity, followed by a third viewpoint demanding engineering solutions to tame nature to prevent future floods. A fourth subordinate voice appeared as an undercurrent to the demands to control nature, reflecting a burgeoning realisation that human action had created the flood
hazard. Settlers had created a problem for both the river and the city. I argue that despite the accumulation of flood experience and climatic knowledge, prospective actions have evolved little since the initial British settlement in 1824.
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Keywords: Brisbane River; Flood; Queensland; settlement
Document Type: Research Article
Publication date: November 1, 2018
This article was made available online on January 5, 2018 as a Fast Track article with title: "‘A River with a City Problem, not a City with a River Problem’: Brisbane and its Flood-Prone River".
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