In and out of place in Federation Square

Federation Square is an iconic urban public space in the centre of Melbourne. It was commissioned to celebrate the establishment of the nation of Australia in 1901; to represent the state of Victoria’s increasing ethnic diversity; and to provide the civic square omitted since the grid plan was first laid out in 1837, when the city was officially founded. Despite Federation Square’s iconic status, there remains a lack of empirical research exploring how well this public space enables and constrains the varied spatial practices of the city’s ethnically diverse population. This paper begins with an outline of the actor-network ethnography and research methods employed in this study. Then, a description of Federation Square is provided, followed by a discussion of the key findings. This paper claims that the flows of everyday urban life that facilitate random encounters between difference are largely absent from Federation Square. Furthermore, the paper argues that minority ethnic groups are more likely to feel and be seen to be ‘out-of-place’ in Federation Square. While the architecture attempts to represent the ethnic diversity of the city, the built form, programming and management limit diverse spatial practices outside of major events.