The Canberra Times' front page outlined the plans for Canberra's growth going into the 1990s on this day in 1981, after a two-year metropolitan plan review was carried out by the National Capital Development Commission.
The central recommendation of the report, then unpublished, was for the city to continue growing in a Y-plan structure, with separate towns throughout Canberra on a linear spine.
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The commission promoted commercial development in the city centre, but the structure of Canberra's retail sector would shift to emphasise Woden and Belconnen Centres. The city centre would be the 'commercial heart', but would not function as the major retail centre for Canberra.
Gungahlin's development was planned to go ahead after 1990, which was expected to accommodate for varied forms of urban growth, possibly providing higher urban densities than elsewhere in Canberra, and different lifestyles.
Many Canberrans who don't often frequent Gungahlin notice its dissimilarity from the rest of the city, and this is no accident, as the commission considered adopting different building and design standards for the area, to 'encourage urban development starkly different to established patterns in Woden and Belconnen.'
The transport policies in the final report would reflect the continuation of cars being Canberra's dominating mode of transport, resultant of the government's unwillingness to contribute money towards the improvement of public-transport systems.
Since money would not go to public transport, more funds would be required to go towards roads and parking facilities.
