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New towns movement
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New towns movement
While purpose-built towns and cities have many precedents in antiquity, beginning with the 195 BC iteration of Chang'an, the New Towns movement refers to an ideologically-driven social campaign. The best-known and possibly most influential of these was a government-driven building and development program which took place in two tranches in the United Kingdom after World War II. Towns were planned and built with two main intentions: to remedy overcrowding and congestion, and to organize scattered ad hoc settlements. An additional purpose was to rehouse people in freshly built, fully planned towns that were completely self-sufficient for the community. Ideological aspects of environmental determinism predominated in this last purpose.
In 1817 model communities were proposed by social reformer Robert Owen to address overcrowded towns. Inspired by John Bellers's 1695 proposal for a College of Industry, a colony for the poor enabling disadvantaged people to work and their children to be educated, Owen proposed small, self-contained communities of about twelve hundred people reliant on agriculture but with some other industry. However, his plans "foundered under the heavy weight of revolutionary ideas" Further model community ideas continued to arise but were each dismissed owing to the perception that they were unconvincing as business ventures.
In the first decades of the 20th century, urban planning pioneers such as Patrick Geddes facilitated discussion of the relationship between social issues and town planning.
Frederic Osborn referred to urban problems collectively as the "urban disease". The urban disease, a consequence of the industrial revolution, emerged from a cycle where industries settled near population centers, attracting rural migrants seeking employment, leading to further industrialization. This resulted in increased pollution, population density, and declining rural areas. The lack of regulations allowed prosperous families to move to open spaces, while urban centers and rural areas deteriorated. Even those who relocated to new fringe suburbs to escape congestion unintentionally contributed to the process they sought to avoid.
The New Town movement was influenced by Ebenezer Howard, creator of the Garden City Movement. The Garden City idea drew from Anglo-American progressivism and socialism. In 1903, Howard's writings led to the creation of Letchworth Garden City, demonstrating that new towns could be economically viable. This was affirmed by Bernard Shaw, co-founder of the London School of Economics, who referred to his investments in the Garden City Movement as "entirely satisfactory, both economically and morally."
The New Town Movement was derived from the Garden City Movement, based on Howard's writings, and seen as an alternative to the overcrowded, polluted, chaotic and miserable industrial cities that had appeared in Britain. Towards the end of World War I, a group called the "New Townsmen" was formed, including Howard, Osborn, C.B. Purdom and W.G. Taylor. They began advocating for the development of 100 new cities.
Frederic J. Osborn was a champion of the New Towns movement alongside Howard. Osborn was born in 1885 and spent the majority of his life advocating in support of New Towns. Like Howard, he had quite a modest education, having never attended a university. In his early 30s, after meeting Howard through his job at the Howard Cottage Society, he took to the campaign for New Towns. The initial campaigns for the establishment of New Towns failed. Although housing was built, it was often in the form of a "garden suburb", or located on the edge of the existing cities – the antithesis of the Garden City idea. With an increasing lack of faith in the government to take up the flag for public housing and new towns, Howard suggested to Osborn that he was wasting his time lobbying government, and that he would be "as old as Methuselah" waiting for action.
In 1909 a greater understanding of the "urban disease" saw Britain's first town planning legislation created. Although technically opposed to fringe development, the Housing, Town Planning, &c. Act 1909 did not prevent it. Instead, in light of recent success with the development of Hampstead Garden Suburb, the Act, realising that suburbs were easier to develop than towns, held the ethos that good suburbs were better than bad ones. Many planners of the day may have wanted new towns, but were busy dealing with the demand for suburbs: "it is difficult for a technician to earn a living in an ivory tower" Moreover, new towns required government direction, which was beyond the scope of municipal powers alone.
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New towns movement
While purpose-built towns and cities have many precedents in antiquity, beginning with the 195 BC iteration of Chang'an, the New Towns movement refers to an ideologically-driven social campaign. The best-known and possibly most influential of these was a government-driven building and development program which took place in two tranches in the United Kingdom after World War II. Towns were planned and built with two main intentions: to remedy overcrowding and congestion, and to organize scattered ad hoc settlements. An additional purpose was to rehouse people in freshly built, fully planned towns that were completely self-sufficient for the community. Ideological aspects of environmental determinism predominated in this last purpose.
In 1817 model communities were proposed by social reformer Robert Owen to address overcrowded towns. Inspired by John Bellers's 1695 proposal for a College of Industry, a colony for the poor enabling disadvantaged people to work and their children to be educated, Owen proposed small, self-contained communities of about twelve hundred people reliant on agriculture but with some other industry. However, his plans "foundered under the heavy weight of revolutionary ideas" Further model community ideas continued to arise but were each dismissed owing to the perception that they were unconvincing as business ventures.
In the first decades of the 20th century, urban planning pioneers such as Patrick Geddes facilitated discussion of the relationship between social issues and town planning.
Frederic Osborn referred to urban problems collectively as the "urban disease". The urban disease, a consequence of the industrial revolution, emerged from a cycle where industries settled near population centers, attracting rural migrants seeking employment, leading to further industrialization. This resulted in increased pollution, population density, and declining rural areas. The lack of regulations allowed prosperous families to move to open spaces, while urban centers and rural areas deteriorated. Even those who relocated to new fringe suburbs to escape congestion unintentionally contributed to the process they sought to avoid.
The New Town movement was influenced by Ebenezer Howard, creator of the Garden City Movement. The Garden City idea drew from Anglo-American progressivism and socialism. In 1903, Howard's writings led to the creation of Letchworth Garden City, demonstrating that new towns could be economically viable. This was affirmed by Bernard Shaw, co-founder of the London School of Economics, who referred to his investments in the Garden City Movement as "entirely satisfactory, both economically and morally."
The New Town Movement was derived from the Garden City Movement, based on Howard's writings, and seen as an alternative to the overcrowded, polluted, chaotic and miserable industrial cities that had appeared in Britain. Towards the end of World War I, a group called the "New Townsmen" was formed, including Howard, Osborn, C.B. Purdom and W.G. Taylor. They began advocating for the development of 100 new cities.
Frederic J. Osborn was a champion of the New Towns movement alongside Howard. Osborn was born in 1885 and spent the majority of his life advocating in support of New Towns. Like Howard, he had quite a modest education, having never attended a university. In his early 30s, after meeting Howard through his job at the Howard Cottage Society, he took to the campaign for New Towns. The initial campaigns for the establishment of New Towns failed. Although housing was built, it was often in the form of a "garden suburb", or located on the edge of the existing cities – the antithesis of the Garden City idea. With an increasing lack of faith in the government to take up the flag for public housing and new towns, Howard suggested to Osborn that he was wasting his time lobbying government, and that he would be "as old as Methuselah" waiting for action.
In 1909 a greater understanding of the "urban disease" saw Britain's first town planning legislation created. Although technically opposed to fringe development, the Housing, Town Planning, &c. Act 1909 did not prevent it. Instead, in light of recent success with the development of Hampstead Garden Suburb, the Act, realising that suburbs were easier to develop than towns, held the ethos that good suburbs were better than bad ones. Many planners of the day may have wanted new towns, but were busy dealing with the demand for suburbs: "it is difficult for a technician to earn a living in an ivory tower" Moreover, new towns required government direction, which was beyond the scope of municipal powers alone.