Ebenezer Howard proposed the concept of the Garden City in his 1898 book "Tomorrow: A Peaceful Path to Reform". He envisioned self-sufficient, planned towns surrounded by greenbelts that combined the benefits of both urban and rural living. Letchworth Garden City, built starting in 1903, was the world's first example based on Howard's principles, including housing arranged in neighborhoods, abundant green spaces, and separation of residential and industrial areas. The document provides historical context on the development of Garden Cities and includes maps, photographs and descriptions of Letchworth Garden City.

2. *
• “A Garden City is a town designed for
industry and healthy living; of a size
that makes possible a full measure of
social life, but not larger; surrounded
by a permanent belt of rural land; the
whole of the land being in public
ownership or held in trust for the
community.”-C.B. Purdom, 1919

3. *
*London (and other cities) in the 19th century
were in the throes of industrialization, and
the cities were exerting massive forces on the
labour markets of the time.
*Massive immigration from the countryside to
the cities was taking place with London. This
situation was unsustainable and political
commentators of all parties sought “how best to
provide the proper antidote against the greatest
danger of modern existence” (St. Jame’s Gazette,
1892) To Howard the cure was simple - to
reintegrate people with the countryside.
London Slums – 1850s

4. *
*In trying to understand and represent the attraction of the
city he compared each city to a magnet, with
individuals represented as needles drawn to the city.
*He set about comparing the ‘town and country magnets’ but
decided that neither were suitable attractors for his
utopian vision . Instead he believed that “Human
society and the beauty of nature are meant to be enjoyed
together” –hence giving his solution “the two magnets
must be made one.”
*"Town and country must be united, and out of this joyous
union, will spring a new hope, a new life, a new
civilization

5. *
*The book ‘Garden cities of to-morrow’ by Howard
offered a vision of towns free of slums and
enjoying the benefits of both town(such as
opportunity, amusement and good wages) and
country (such as beauty, fresh air and low rents).
*He illustrated the idea with his famous
which addressed the question
'Where will the people go?' the choices being
'Town', 'Country' or 'Town-Country'.
*It proposed the creation of new suburban towns
of limited size, planned in advance, and surrounded by
a permanent belt of agricultural land.
Howard offered

6. *
* Howard believed that such
Garden Cities were the perfect
blend of city and nature
*The towns would be largely
independent, managed by
the citizens who had an
economic interest in them, and
financed by ground rents on
the Georgist model.
*The land on which they were
to be built was to be owned by
a group of trustees and leased
to the citizens.

7. *
*The dwellings for all classes of people should be
distributed about a large central court in which
public buildings would be located.
*The Shopping Centre to be located on the edge of
the town.
*The employment facilities for all the people to
be provided by starting a variety of industries.
*The industries to be located on the outskirts of
the town.
*The city should have max. population of 30 to 35
thousand people in an are of 1000 acres.
*The city should have the advantage of both rural
life such as fresh air, gardens, playfields, cottages
etc. and amenities of urban life such as schools,
theaters, hospitals, recreational centers etc.

8. *
*To eliminate the private ownership,
whole of the land is to brought
under co-operative basis or held in
trust for the community in order to
have the control on finance and the
profit gained thereby be utilized for
uplifting the community.
*The city should be surrounded by a
permanent belt of agricultural land
of 3 to 5 thousand acres

9. *

10. *
COMBINATIONOF BOTH ASPECTS
Beauty of nature-peace all-over the
places.
Social opportunity-cumulative growth.
Fields and parks of easy access-equal
chances.
Low rents-high wages.
Low rates-plenty to do.
Low prices-no sweating.
Field for enterprise-flow of capital.
Pure air and water-good drainage.
Bright homes & gardens-no smoke, no
slums.
Freedom-Co-operation

11. *
*Circular city growing in a radial
manner or pattern.
*Divided into six equal wards, by
six main Boulevards that radiated
from the central park/garden.
*Civic institutions (Town Hall,
Library, Hospital, Theatre, Museum
etc. ) are placed around the
central garden.
*The central park enclosed by a
crystal palace acts as an arcade
for indoor shops and winter
gardens.
THE ORIGINAL GARDEN CITY CONCEPT BY EBENEZER

12. *
*Distance between each ring vary between 3-
5k.
*A 420 feet wide , 3 mile long, Grand avenue
which run in the center of concentric rings ,
houses the schools and churches and acts as a
continuous public park.
*The streets for houses are formed by a series of
concentric ringed tree lined avenues.
*All the industries, factories and warehouses
were placed at the peripheral ring of the
city.
*The municipal railway was placed in
another ring closer to the industrial ring , so
that the pressure of excess transport on the
city streets are reduced and the city is
connected to the rest of the nation.

13. *
*Letchworth is the world’s
first Garden City, created as a
solution to the slum and
poverty of urban life in Britain
in the late 19th Century.
Based on the ideas of
Ebenezer Howard as
published in his book of 1898
“Tomorrow: A Peaceful
Path to Reform”.
Letchworth Garden City
inspired town planning across
the globe

14. *
*Letchworth, officially
Letchworth Garden City, is a
town
*In Hertfordshire ,England,
with a population of 33,600
*It was designed by Raymond
Unwin and Barry Parker.
*Letchworth –35 miles from
London

15. *
*Land of 3822 acres
*Reserved Green belt-1300
acres
*Designed for a maximum of
35000 population
*In 30 years –developed with
15000 population & 150
shops, industries

18. LG1
the land for
900 homes
north of the
Letchworth
LG2
developed
by Barratt
Homes
LG4
37 homes on
the Cashio
Lane sports
field
LG10
45 home on
the old
Norton School
site
LG3 land in the
village of
Norton

19. Residential
Industrial
Shopping & centers
Towns & village

22. Dark bottle green indicates
existing allotments
yellow shows open space
within the town
and buildings shown in pink
are in the business, industrial
and manufacturing area of
town.
Small fields - shown in dark
green - on the edge of town
might be used for growing
food in anything from
allotments to small ‘truck’
farms and greenhouses.
A new Park and Ride facility -
shown in criss-crossed blue

23. *

24. *
Main Avenue
Goods Yard and sid-igs
Central square
Site for public hall , Museum
Site for schools
Site for places of wor-ship
Sites for hotels
Open spaces , Green or
parks
Site for post office
Site for Municipal
Buildings
Recoration Ground
Factory sites
Crecket Field

25. Examples of roads and
drives used at Earswick,
Letchworth and Hampstead

27. *
The offices of architects Parker and Unwin on
Norton Way South took the form of a thatched
vernacular hall house.Housing in Letchworth
reflected many of
Howard’s ideals. With
just 12 houses to the
acre, clearly defined
building standards,
tree-lined roads and
generous open spaces
as well as houses
grouped into
identifiable units,
theory and plan were
in accord.

28. Letchworth Hall

29. St Mary's Church, Letchworth

30. Lytton Avenue, prizewinning cottages
designed for the 1907 Urban Cottage
Exhibition.

31. Crabby Corner’ (now ‘Arunside’) in Letchworth
Lane, designed in 1904 by Parker and Unwin.
Station Road Letchworth

32. Westholm Green, designed by Barry Parker and
Raymond Unwin in 1906 for Garden City
tenants.
Spirella factory, Letchworth with charabancs
outside, waiting to take the workers to the
1924 British Empire Exhibition at Wembley.

33. First Garden City Ltd, Estate Office, Broadway,
Letchworth, a Lutyens-influenced prototype for
later civic buildings

34. Mrs Howard Hall

36. *
* http://urban-networks.blogspot.com/2016/02/el-modelo-
original-de-la-ciudad-jardin.html
* http://www.saveletchworth.co.uk/maps-of-the-area/
* http://cullinanstudio.com/project/letchworth-transition-
town
* https://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/11/11.001j/f01/lectureimages
/6/image7.html
* https://heritagecalling.com/2016/02/18/a-brief-
introduction-to-garden-cities/
* http://letchworthgardencity.com/heritage/tour/eastholm.ht
m
* http://www.hertsmemories.org.uk/content/herts-
history/towns-and-
villages/letchworth_garden_city/letchworth_history/who-
was-living-in-letchworth-in-1901-before-they-started-to-
build-the-worlds-first-garden-city