Rundle Mall celebrates 50 years as Australia's first major pedestrian shopping precinct

Fifty years ago, then-SA premier Don Dunstan decided to remove cars from a section of Rundle Street to create the country's first major pedestrian-only shopping mall.

It was a controversial move at the time to pedestrianise the area.

"In one corner you've got the cars, in the other corner you've got the pedestrians, then you've got the small traders over there, and the big traders who want it," said local historian Keith Conlon.

"There was a lot of friction about whether this ought to happen, which seems strange now.

Rundle Mall was opened on September 1, 1976 to a crowd of about 10,000 people, complete with a champagne-filled fountain.

Dunstan promised a space that would be for more than just shopping.

"It wasn't just going to be a shopping place, but where people could come and stroll, meet one another, enjoy an open-air activity, and at the same time, of course, go and purchase what they wanted to," he told the crowd.

Fifty years later, Rundle Mall's executive manager Andrew White said he was excited to celebrate that approach on its anniversary.

"It's not just about coming and doing shopping, it's also where culture and social life occurs in South Australia," he said.

A 'pigeon overlord</think>

One of the most well-known elements of Rundle Mall is the public art, with Mr White describing it as "an outdoor art gallery" — including the iconic Mall's Balls, installed in 1977.

But some of the art has been met with friction over time.

The original designer of the Mall's Balls — officially named Spheres — was "dismayed" by the decision to move them in 2013.

And the four pigs which call Rundle Mall home — Horatio, Oliver, Truffles and August — were met with some questions when they were installed in the 1990s, according to Mr Conlon.

"Of course now, they're Instagram favourites around the world," he said.

Most recently a giant pigeon was installed in 2020, a piece the artist said was in tribute to the "proud flaneurs, promenading through our leisure and retail precincts".

"We had the Mall's Balls come in, we've got the pigeon overlord, which is quite iconic now," Mr White said.

"All these things that start off where people are a little bit unsure, they become part of the fabric of this place."

Famous faces at the Mall

Rundle Mall has also seen its share of famous faces.

In 1977, not long after it was opened, Queen Elizabeth II visited.

A few years later, about 25,000 people descended on the Mall to listen to British pop star sensation Boy George.

"We've had some of the great Australian artists here [too], but as well as that, it's where you celebrate things," Mr Conlon said.

"You celebrate multicultural festivals, you celebrate when your netball team wins, when the Thunderbirds win the whole mall turns pink.

"It's a place where you come, not just to shop, but to meet and do things."

Although much has changed since the 1970s, Mr Conlon said he believed Rundle Mall had kept in step with what was a cutting edge idea 50 years ago.

"It's always moving and changing but I think the continuing thread for the mall is that it's a community hub, a people hub," he said.

"The really continuing flavour of the mall for me is the people and what they come to see. So this has always been much more than a shopping mall."