Garden Cities

The term garden cities refers to the concept of new town development as originally envisaged by Ebenezer Howard (1850–1928). Originally proposed in 1898 in the book To-morrrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform, Howard's garden city was the most radical solution to problems evident within the towns and cities of industrial Britain during the Victorian era. Inspired by the “magnets” of town, country, and town-country (that is, suburban environments), Howard proposed a new form of urban development, known as garden cities, which he envisaged would establish a new urban system. The garden cities were formed in such a manner by Howard as to take the best aspects of both urban and rural living, and included surrounding each garden city by a greenbelt so as to limit urban sprawl. Howard's new settlements would in effect be composed of a number of self-contained satellites (the population in each being 32,000) located around a central city (with a population of 58,000), which would be linked together by a system of transportation. Thus one collective settlement (that is, central city and satellites) would have a maximum population of 250,000.

The influence of the garden city should not be underestimated. Just a year after Howard's idea was published in 1898, the Garden City Association was formed, and by 1904 the first garden city, a new town situated north of London, had been planned. Letchworth, the first garden city, although planned by Barry Parker and Raymond Unwin, contained many of the ideas put forward by Howard. While not all of the social notions embedded within Howard's original idea were used in Letchworth, cottage-style houses were arranged in low-density forms within a leafy environment, industry was separated from housing areas, and a greenbelt was formed so as to contain the sprawl of the settlement. Slow-growing Letchworth had a major influence on urban development in Britain prior to 1914 and led to the forming of garden suburbs, low-density extensions added to existing urban settlements, and the creation of the Housing, Town Planning, Etc. Act in 1909—the world's first legislation to contain the words “town planning” in the title. After the end of World War I, Howard continued to pursue garden city development, and this led to the forming of Welwyn Garden City.

Although the original garden city was heavily influenced by elements of British society at the end of the 1800s, this has not inhibited the growth of garden cities in other countries. This is in part due to the comprehensive nature of Howard's original idea and the fact that it led to the creation of environments of high quality because it encouraged human settlement with nature—and thus has resonance with modern sustainable development—and it promoted notions of community via providing housing for all social classes. Finally, the garden city highlighted the collective benefits to be derived from collective land ownership. The success of the garden city thus must be seen as the result of not only the comprehensive nature of Howard's idea but also its practical use after its inception at Letchworth. Significantly, the original idea subsequently has been taken apart and reshaped into many different forms. In America, for instance, the garden city idea was dismantled and widely applied, most evidently in 1929 in Clarence Stein and Henry Wright's new town of Radburn, New Jersey, with the garden city concept applied to address the needs of commuters. And in Britain the idea found popularity within garden suburb schemes following the creation of Letchworth. Yet, it is significant to note that during the 20th century the name garden city was widely used, often to imply low-density, leafy housing environments, and as a consequence a confusing use of the term—after the wide incorporation of its values—has resulted. Many “garden” enviroments bear little social resemblance to Howard's dream. Given this situation, understanding the garden city Howard envisioned requires focusing attention on the purer garden city forms, that is, the [Page 295]two settlements in England founded by Howard, Letchworth Garden City and Welwyn Garden City, which despite bearing the title “city” are in effect towns, as well as Hampstead garden suburb. However, to study Letchworth means to consider the ideas and work of Parker and Unwin, the town's planners, as well as those of Howard.

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