Douglastown, Fairytale Keys

**Douglastown**, main urban centre in the Fairytale Keys district and second largest urban centre in Eastern Papua New Guinea Peninsula, is the capital city of the Australian Administrative Territory in Papua New Guinea. Independent in governance, law and currency from Papua New Guinea, the territory and quasi-City State still relies on the National Link Motorway to connect its urban centre to **Port Moresby**, the capital of Papua New Guinea 5 hours drive to the west.

Founded after World War Two in 1948, initially as a gift of appreciation from the newly formed Independent Papua government, the city was designed to house returning soldiers and citizens, helping to rebuild parts of Papua New Guinea destroyed by Japanese forces. The Papua government granted the Australian government a 70 year leasehold on the peninsula, in return for financial investment in vital infrastructure and economy building of the entire Papua New Guinea Eastern Peninsula. Douglastown Administrators argue that the 70 year leasehold of the city area had the option to be extended as more infrastructure was established; a claim that is denied by the Papuan Prime Minister, James Marape. Instead, the government claims that Douglastown is a 'money magnet', drawing money away from poorer cities and villages in the area with its extensive investment and tax free corporate base. Douglastown's leasehold expired in 2018, and tensions between the Administrative government and Papuan government have begun to rise as no action has been taken for handover back to Papua New Guinea.

## History

#### Before and during World War Two

The area where Douglastown stands today has over 60,000 years of history. The original inhabitants of the Mowapa tribe migrated to the area from Indonesia, and cultivated its rich soil to ensure a wide botanical biodiversity. Up until the 1940's, besides small villages of Daudau and Gibara, the area remained largely uninhabited rainforest.

In World War Two, rapid Japanese advancement would change the cultural and natural landscape of the region. The natural deep water waterfront of the area proved invaluable for shopping of supplies and troops, and allowed Japanese forces to advance closer to Australia. As a result, the area around what is now Douglastown was cleared of rainforests to allow the shipment of these supplies.

When the tide turned and Japanese forces needed to retreat from the area, they did so with a scorched earth policy. As a result, vast swathes of the region were cleared and destroyed in an attempt to impede advancing American and Australian troops. These attempts only made it easier for allied forces to advance.

#### After World War Two

After World War Two, the newly formed United Nations recommended that Papua New Guinea be granted independence. This was granted in 1946. It quickly became apparent to the newly formed independent government that vast investments and assistance were needed to rebuild the country which had been ravaged by war. Still seeing large numbers of Australian troops in the region, the government proposed a plan for assistance to rebuild neighbourhoods in Port Moresby. The Australian government, seeing an opportunity to establish a new base of defence north of the mainland, accepted the proposal in return for a parcel of 'flat land' to build an air base. A small, squared plot of land was granted to the Australian government, where Tiller's Court is now.

In 1948, a much larger land allotment was granted to the Australian government. Effectively isolating the Eastern tip of Papua New Guinea from the rest of the country, the Papua government granted the land in the form of a leasehold, and a mutual agreement that both Australian's and Papuan's could move freely between the two territories. The Australian government agreed to a 70 year leasehold, and on April 9, 1948, the Australian Administrative Territory was born.

A block network of old military sheds in the area were originally named 'Douglas', as a reference point by its discoverer, Douglas Elright. In 1955, the area was renamed Douglastown.

## Cityscape

Douglastown is a partly planned city. Extreme care was taken by urban planners between 1948 and 1971, with wide avenues and landscaped gardens between the Douglastown City Centre, Sea Beach to the East, and West End to the West. Furthermore, large traffic circles/roundabouts were constructed between Douglastown City Centre and Franklin/Sunlight Park to the north, housing the city's Commercial and Industrial districts and allowing the freeflow of road traffic between districts, as well as bypassing residential centres such as Mountview and Tiller's Court.

City planning in Douglastown has been a little more haphazard after 1972, with an explosion in population growth thanks to the construction and operation of the Franklin Toyota Plant, as well as migration schemes by the Australian Government in Canberra to relieve population pressures from Sydney and Melbourne.

Douglastown adopts a grid style formation in its city centre, and as a result, its towers face in a due north/south direction. High Rises dominate the cityscape in Douglastown, Sea Beach, Mission Beach and West End. Despite being a city state with land area constraints, low density suburban housing is still a preference for much of the Douglastown Administrative Area.

## Infrastructure

### Transportation

Despite being by most means a self functioning government area, Douglastown relies on the National Motorway Link and High Speed Rail service to Port Moresby to use its International Airport to access mainland Australia. This has been an integral issue in government relations between Australia and Papua New Guinea since the 2018 leasehold expiration, with calls to 'Increase Customs control measures' at the border between Douglastown and Western Papua New Guinea. No actions have been undertaken, however, due to fears of the Administrative government retaliating by blocking access to the Eastern Cape, still under Papua control. Calls have been made for Douglastown to have its own International Airport, and feasibility studies are underway by the Administrative Government to determine if this is possible.

Douglastown was originally designed to be a car dependent city, due to the era it was constructed in and its main form of employment coming from the Toyota Plant in the suburb of Franklin. As a result, Douglastown Metro area has an extended urban network of Motorways (named 'Links'), Flyovers/Overpasses, Tunnels, Wide Avenues and Traffic Circles/Roundabouts. The urban mass of Douglastown is almost divided into equal quarters, with the Northern Link running North-South, and Lakes Road and Mountview Flyover running East-West. Douglastown's main multi-level/grade interchange was constructed at what was formally known as Franklin's Rest, with a multi-directional 6 level interchange between the Northern Link, National Link, Sunlight Avenue and Franklin Road. To the north, a 2 level interchange divides traffic North-West and North-East along Holiday Avenue. Due to the area's population explosion, the city has struggled to update its road infrastructure to deal with its larger population. As a result, traffic snarl ups and jams are common. Attempts to add further traffic lanes to Lakes Road were thwarted by protesters due to the threat to the wide avenue's historical native gardens and landscapes. As a result, it still remains 4 lanes, with 2 Eastbound and 2 Westbound directional lanes. An alternative plan to add a singular extra traffic lane with tidal traffic flow (similar to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, USA) 2 + 3 lanes depending on the time of day, is currently passing through democratic sessions of government.

The local Administrative Government has realised that Douglastown needs new transport options to survive. The city now has 2 metro lines; the City Circle and Sea Beach line. The City Circle is an all underground metro line, servicing the main city centre of Douglastown Commercial Area and inner-city highrises. Servicing Douglastown, Waterfront Street, Tower Street, Healthcare Precinct, Justice Precinct, Fenty Avenue, Memorial and an inner city Lakes Road station, ridership has been low due to the price of tickets from its private operator, MTR Holdings. On the contrary, the government subsidised and run Sea Beach line is a very popular service to the city's residents, and services Swift Street, University Campus, Tiller's Way, Park Park, Mountview, Jackson Park, Oaktree and Sea Beach. As a result, road traffic has improved during peak periods along Beach Avenue and the Lower Mountain Link.