“Our Corner of the World”

Abstract

This essay reviews urban history research in Australia, arguing that as the field has developed since the 1970s it has become increasingly interdisciplinary and outward looking. The essay draws attention to analysis that has focused on the vernacular forms of past social life, and argues that by adding complexity to this approach a useful research pathway can be developed through which to study the reference points used by people to frame and preserve their local habitats. In doing so the essay also introduces three other articles in this issue that discuss important overlapping areas of current research by urban historians in Australia.