Parliament buildings - Page 1

The Australian capital, Canberra, has much in common with the capital of the USA, Washington D.C. In both cases, the location was agreed as a compromise between two opposing interests: Sydney and Melbourne in the Australian case, Maryland and Virginia in the American one. Perhaps this is part of why the two cities have such a similar feel? They are both artificial constructs, built on land that would quite likely otherwise be largely uninhabited by humans.

The most obvious comparison to draw is the layout of the cities, focussed on a central avenue with key buildings at either end. In Washington, the Capitol is at one end of the National Mall: a broad, grassed boulevard that stretches in a straight line from Capitol Hill at one end to the Washington Memorial at the other (with the Lincoln Memorial and others between).