Melbourne is Australia's second largest city and widely considered to be a garden city, with Victoria being nicknamed "the Garden State".[1][2] Renowned as one of the most livable cities in the world, there is an abundance of parks, gardens and green belts close to the CBD with a variety of common and rare plant species amid landscaped vistas, pedestrian pathways, and tree-lined avenues, all managed by Parks Victoria.
The first superintendent of the Port Phillip region, Charles La Trobe, set aside large tracts of land around the city for open space, parkland and gardens. Much of this land has since been excised for public infrastructure like sporting complexes, railways, hospitals and other public buildings, and also for residential development, but a substantial amount has remained. This allowed landscape designer Clement Hodgkinson and director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne, William Guilfoyle, to landscape many of the parks and gardens. Many of these parks and gardens are within easy walking distance of the central business district.
- ^ "Premier of Victoria, Australia – FLOWER AND GARDEN SHOW BLOSSOMS IN 2008". premier.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 10 June 2008.
- ^ "Victorian Parliamentary Hansard – Parliament of Victoria". tex2.parliament.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 10 June 2008.