Established in 1955, it was the seat of the former local government body, the old City of Elizabeth, which included Elizabeth as well as the immediately adjacent suburbs on all sides except the west. Although the City of Elizabeth no longer exists, having been amalgamated into the much larger City of Playford in 1997, the term "Elizabeth", in the context of Adelaide, typically refers to the historic municipality and the distinct community therein.[3]
History
Before the 1950s, most of the area surrounding today's suburb of Elizabeth was farming land.[citation needed] After the end of the Second World War with its shortage of materials, the state government decided that South Australia needed to grow and become industrialised. A satellite city was planned for northern metropolitan fringe of Adelaide between the existing townships of Salisbury and Smithfield. The South Australian Housing Trust initiated a housing development program in the area, with a purchase of 1,200 hectares (3,000 acres) at the site of the present suburb.[citation needed]
The town council was briefly renamed the District Council of Salisbury and Elizabeth on 22 August 1963. On 13 February 1964, a new local government body, the municipality of Elizabeth, later called the City of Elizabeth, was created by severance from the District Council of Salisbury.[5]
The majority of residents 28,574 (70.8%) were born in Australia, while 2,895 (7.2%) were born in England.[2]
The median age of Elizabeth residents was 35. Children aged 0–14 years made up 22.1% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 13.9% of the population.[2]
Afghanistan was third as place of birth and parents' birth after Australia and England, overtaking Scotland, and Hazaraghi was the language next most frequently spoken at home after English.[2]
The City of Playford civic centre houses the council chambers, the Elizabeth branch of the Playford Library and the Shedley Theatre.
Westerly adjacent to the civic centre is the Elizabeth Shopping Centre at the heart of the suburb.[6] Formerly known as Elizabeth Town Centre, it has been progressively expanded since the 1960s. In its early days it featured open-air malls, but today it comprises a single storey undercover mall. A major renovation and extension was completed in 2004.
In 2007, Northern Sound System was established at 71 Elizabeth Way. The centre has offered programs, courses and workshops in various skills, including DJ, hip hop music, youth choir, gaming and animation; songwriting and music production, and it also includes recording studios, a live music venue, and rehearsal spaces.
Parks
Dauntsey Reserve is located between Winterslow Road and Woodford Road. Ridley Reserve is located on the suburb's southern boundary. There are other parks and reserves in the suburb.[6]
Elizabeth is serviced by public transport run by the Adelaide Metro, including buses and the Gawler railway line which passes beside the suburb.[8] Mountbatten Square houses Elizabeth station,[9] which also acts as a major bus interchange for the region.[10]
Media
The local newspaper was the now-closed News Review Messenger. The Bunyip newspaper also covers the Elizabeth area in its Playford Times section.[11]
^Odenwalder, Lee (6 July 2017). "Elizabeth". Hansard. Parliament of South Australia. Archived from the original on 5 August 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2017. We have to be mindful about what we are talking about when we say Elizabeth. We are not so much talking about the existing physical suburb; indeed, Elizabeth proper these days means the few square kilometres around the Elizabeth City Centre. It has been subsumed physically and administratively by the City of Playford and by the unbroken urban sprawl which extends to the small green belt before you get to Gawler. For anyone who grew up in Elizabeth and anyone who has lived in Elizabeth for a long time, there is a very distinct physical and psychological place called Elizabeth. It is not Salisbury, it is not Munno Para, and for a lot of people it is not even the City of Playford, whose borders spread far beyond what anyone understands to be Elizabeth. For those of us who grew up there, and for those of us who live there, it is very clear where Elizabeth is. It is in many ways hard to define, but it is culturally different from other parts of the metropolitan area.
^"E"(PDF). Place Names of South Australia. State Library of South Australia. p. 11. Retrieved 9 August 2017. On 16 November 1955, at a site on the Adelaide Plain, 17 miles north of Adelaide, a new town was inaugurated by Sir Thomas Playford, GCMG, Premier of South Australia
