important urban features for potential incorporation into the future Melbourne [plan], paying particular attention to open spaces, streetscapes and building heights". By 1932, Saxil "had designed or co-designed at least thirty suburban divisions – a majority of which could be termed garden suburbs". In planning terms, Saxil is often overshadowed by better known contemporaries like John Sulman and architect/planner Walter Burley Griffin. However, Tuxen is the "most successful [garden city planner], where success is defined in terms of projects actually reaching completion in a form close to the original design". Ideas and influences Saxil Tuxen was exposed to a variety surveying and town planning theory and design through his international travels. He "was in touch with international developments, and utilised them where appropriate in his work". Saxil firmly believed that surveyors and town planners needed to work together if suburban subdivisions were to be successful. He felt that the values and expertise of the surveying profession facilitated Melbourne's plan, which incorporated a unique layout and an abundance of parklands. Tuxen's interest in the civic improvement of society and his passion for "planning" as a profession resulted in the widespread advancement of town planning throughout Australia. Saxil Tuxen was a "socially conscious [and] politically active planner [who had] interests in the built environment and social policy". References Bibliography Australian surveyors 1885 births 1975 deaths People from Kew, Victoria