How did Melbourne earn its place as one of the world's 'music cities'? Beginning with the arrival of rock 'n' roll in the 1950s, this book explores the development of different sectors of Melbourne's popular music ecosystem in parallel with broader population, urban planning and media industry changes in the city. The authors draw on interviews with Melbourne musicians, venue owners and policy-makers, documenting their ambitions and experiences across different periods, with accompanying spotlights on the gendered, multicultural and indigenous contexts of playing and recording in Melbourne. Focusing on pop and rock, this is the first book to provide an extensive historical lens of popular music within an urban cultural economy that in turn investigates the contemporary nature and challenges of urban music activities and policy.

Melbourne is now coming to the fore as a design hotspot. With three and a half million inhabitants, it is on a scale that is livable and diverse. Its rich and varied cultural intimacy has enabled it to build up a unique dynamism, which is set to shift the entire design agenda of the world - much like Barcelona did in the 1980s and Antwerp did in the 1990s. Melbourne is to be the city of the noughties. The intense plurality of Melbourne's recent design culture is due to have a vast impact on the way in which we think about city regions and living in them. This is a story of wonderful spaces: in civic and institutional buildings; in galleries, bars, clubs and restaurants; in one of the world's tallest residential apartment buildings; in beach houses and mountain shacks; in workshops and studios; and in international sports venues. As Melbourne hosts the Commonwealth games in 2006, a vast influx of visitors will be experiencing these spaces for the first time. Through luscious photography and an accessible text, Design City Melbourne is devised not only to illustrate a wide range of fascinating interiors and their architecural matrices, but also to describe the people behind them and how these spaces support the vital culture of this uniquely mixed and cosmopolitan city. A metropolis that is situated in the same time zone as China, and which is pioneering in its European colonial matrix the admixture of new Asian urban forms.

Some travelers love nothing better than to bathe in the sun. Others revel in immersing themselves in history and culture. Then there are those who are born to shop. We all know the type. In fact, we might ourselves be the type. There are some people for whom shopping is not a necessity but a sport. Insight Shopping Guides are a play book for the avid shopper who wants to level the playing field when he or she competes against natives for the best goods and deals the city has to offer. This series is for the discerning consumer who needs a little help navigating around an unfamiliar city. They are ideal shopping companions for travelers wanting lively, informative background material on the best shopping areas and reliable advice on finding the most reliable service.