Pitt Street Mall - the retail heart of the City

This is the Pitt Street Mall in Sydney. It is built on the swamp from which the Tank Stream arose, that very stream which caught the attention of Captain Arthur Phillip in 1788.

The original crowned street was pedestrianised in the late '70s, but it is this decade's renovation which has converted it into an outside living room. It has been estimated that 58,000 people wander this mall on any given weekend day.

Here, by way of comparison, is the relevant section of Pitt Street in 1900, courtesy of The Powerhouse Museum. The cross street in the foreground is King Street.