Urbanism

2. BACKGROUND/HISTORY
The garden city movement is a
method of urban planning in which
self-contained communities are
surrounded by "greenbelts",
containing proportionate areas of
residences, industry, and
agriculture.

3. Concept
Concept of “Garden City” was introduced by ,Ebenezer
Howard (London,1898) in his small remarkable book “To-
morrow”(later re-published as “Garden cities of To-morrow”.
He wanted to design an alternative for overcrowded and
polluted industrial cities of that century.
His solution centered in developing smaller “garden cities”,
linked by canal and transit and covered by a permanent green
belt.
He founded the Garden City Association (later known as the
Town and Country Planning Association or TCPA), which
created First Garden City, Ltd. in 1899 to create the garden
city of Letchworth and Welywn.

4. His idealized garden city
would house 32,000 people on
a site of 6,000 acres (2,400
ha), planned on
a concentric pattern with open
spaces, public parks and six
radial boulevards, 120 ft
(37 m) wide, extending from
the center. The garden city
would be self-sufficient and
when it reached full
population, another garden
city would be developed
nearby. Howard envisaged a
cluster of several garden cities

5. PRINCIPLE/CORE
IDEA
Howard’s solution to the related problems of rural
depopulation and the runaway growth of great towns and
cities was the creation of a series of small, planned cities that
would combine the amenities of urban life with the ready
access to nature typical of rural environments. The main
features of Howard’s scheme were:
(1) the purchase of a large area of agricultural land within a
ring fence;
(2) the planning of a compact town surrounded by a wide rural
belt;
(3) the accommodation of residents, industry, and agriculture
within the town;
(4) the limitation of the extent of the town and prevention of

6. At the center of the city would lay a
garden ringed with the civic and cultural
complex including the city hall, a concert
hall, museum, theatre, library, and
hospital. Six broad main avenues would
radiate from this center. Concentric to
this urban core would be a park, a
combination shopping center and
conservatory, a residential area, and
then, at the outer edge, industry. Traffic
would move along avenues extending
along the radii and concentric
boulevards.
Howard stressed that the actual
placement and planning of such a town

7. The idea was initiated in 1898 by Sir
Ebenezer Howard in the United
Kingdom.
Ideally his garden city would
accommodate 32,000 people on a
site of 6,000 acres (2,400 ha),
planned on a concentric pattern with
open spaces, public parks and six
radial boulevards, 120 ft (37 m)
wide, extending from the center.
The garden city would be self-
sufficient and when it reached full
population, another garden city
would be developed nearby.
Howard envisaged a cluster of
several garden cities as satellites of
a central city of 50,000 people,
linked by road and rail.
The overcrowding and deterioration

8. THE
THREE
MAGNETS
Garden City concept, initiated by Sir Ebenezer Howard in
the United Kingdom, was an effective response for a better
quality of life in overcrowded and dirty industrial towns which
had deteriorated the environment and posed serious threat
to health.
The twin problems of urban overcrowding and rural
depopulation could not be solved, Howard judged by any
alteration or improvement to existing cities but only by the
construction of an entirely new form of settlement, the
Garden City.
The reason why the garden city movement has been
revolutionary and is still currently inspirational for many is
because a Garden City is based on valuable principles such
as the collective land ownership, the affordability of rents

9. The basis for this new form of settlement is initially presented
through the metaphor of “the three magnets”. The town and
country are regarded as two sources of attraction, each with its
own strengths and weaknesses, and each trying to draw the
population to itself.
The town magnet offers:
o Advantages of high
wages
o Opportunities for
employment
o Tempting possibilities for
advancement
o Social opportunities
o Places of amusement
o Well lit streets
However these are largely
counterbalanced by:
o High rents and prices
o Excessive hours of toil
o Distance from work
o Isolation of crowds

10. Neither alternative, town or country, offers for the conditions of a
full and healthy life, each is in its own way deficient in some
essential quality of life. And so Howard offered a third alternative,
the “Town-country”, which provides all the advantages of both city
and country life with none of their attendant drawbacks.
The country magnet offers:
o Natural beauty
o Fresh air
o Low rents
o Better quality of life
It also had its own
drawbacks:
o Low wages
o Lack of society
o Dullness
o Lack of amusements
o Lack of capital and labour

11. The town-country
offered:
• High wages
• Social opportunities
• Places of
amusements
• Healthy living
conditions
• Low rents
• Large parks
Though the garden city has often
been characterized as representing a
small town or village idea, it was in
fact designed so that “each
inhabitant of the whole group, though
in one sense living in a town of small
size, would be, in reality, living in and
would enjoy all the advantages of a

12. Benefits Replacing concrete high-rises and log-jammed roads with
energy-efficient buildings, green spaces and car-free zones
promises cleaner air and lower greenhouse gas emissions.
Green cities are healthier, more prosperous and safer. A 17-year
study by Exeter University found that UK householders living in
greener urban environments are likely to have lower levels of
mental distress and higher levels of wellbeing.
Exercise is a big factor too. According to a report commissioned
by the Forestry Commission, people with access to large,
attractive open spaces are 50% more likely to achieve high levels
of walking.
It’s not unreasonable to suppose that a healthier populace results
in a more productive, and therefore more prosperous, populace
too. Done well, garden cities can provide the opportunity to
attract inward investment and create employment as well.

14. WAYS
TO
IMPLEMENT Plan simply , but comprehensively.
Don't stop at the individual property line. Adjust paving,
sidewalks, sewers and the like to the particular needs of the
pattern. Arrange buildings and grounds so as to give sunlight,
air and a tolerable outlook to even the smallest and the cheapest
house.
Provide ample sites in the place for community use; ie. play
ground, school garden, schools, theaters, churches, public
buildings and stores.
Put factories and other industrial buildings where they can be
used without wasteful transportation of goods or people.
Cars must be parked and stored ,deliveries made, waste
collected(vehicular movement)-plan for such service with a
minimum of danger, noise and confusion.
Relationship between building.

15. • Separation of pedestrian and vehicular traffic.
• Super block- large block surrounded by main roads.
• Houses grouped around small “cul de sacs” (a street or
passage closed at one end)
• Each accessed from main road, living, bedroom faced gardens
and parks, service area to access roads
• Remaining land
-Park areas
-Walkways : designed such that pedestrians can reach social places
without crossing automobile street.
• At peak capacity (ideally no more than 50,000 people for a
central city and 32,000 people for a satellite city) it was
proposed that the garden city should be connected to another
garden city, creating a network, avoiding overcrowding, but
“always preserving a belt of country.”

16. Conclusion
In conclusion, Howard's basic concern was social reform, yet in
calling his town “Garden City” he was setting an aesthetic
standard.
The main aesthetic came initially from the domestic work of such
architects as Voysey and Norman Shaw's designs in the first
Garden Suburb at Bedford Park, London in 1876. These
aesthetic influences have had a much greater effect on social
conditions today than reforms in living conditions because of the
early works and an ability to relate to them.
Other important aspects derived from the early Garden Cities and
Unwind are the flexible plan, and its heavy reliance on the site.
There was present a constant drive to retain the beauty and not
to destroy but improve the natural aspects of the site on

17. What
went
wrong?
Unfortunately the practical result was something very far from an
alive city, the Garden City design created a quiet dormitory
(suburbs) with scattered and dispersive social points (city center).
However, Howard’s idea left a strong legacy in the modern
planning design, giving to it a social and community dimension.
The reason why the garden city movement has been
revolutionary and is still currently inspirational for many is
because a Garden City is based on valuable principles such as
the collective land ownership, the affordability of rents and low
rate of taxes, the importance of citizens’ wellbeing, as well as the
importance of the country and our relationship with it.

18. OBSTACLES/CRITICISMS
The new garden villages have attracted criticism from various
quarters. British Architect Richard Rogers has criticized the
garden city proposals as a “return to the mistakes of the past”.
He argued that there is no need to build on greenfield sites when
there is still capacity to build more than one million homes on
brownfield land. His remarks were made after a report by the
Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) and the University of
West of England (UWE), which proposed more homes be built on
brownfield land, was published In November 2014.
A report, Garden Towns and Villages – unwanted, unnecessary
and unsustainable, published by Smart Growth UK in May 2017,
looked at the underlying garden city “principles”, whether the new
towns and villages intended to use brownfield land, whether they
would have adequate infrastructure and alleviate housing

19. The report concludes that these towns and villages are: no more than
simple car-dependent, low-density, greenfield sprawl –
environmentally destructive but highly profitable for their developers.
With regards to Bicester, an article in the Guardian questioned
whether the local people were persuaded that Bicester could become
a garden town or whether they saw the development as “just a
rebrand for unsustainable, sprawling dormitory suburbs”.
According to the article, lack of adequate transport infrastructure
worries some of the local residents. They expressed concern about
the gridlock and foresaw worsening traffic. The Campaign to Protect
Rural England is sceptical that the development of garden cities can
help solve the housing crisis, saying that they will make “next to no
difference to meeting housing need”.55 CPRE argues that the focus
should be on developing brownfield land across the country. In

20. FIRST
DEVELOPMENTS
-
EXAMPLES
The first Garden City evolved out of Howard’s Principles is
Letchworth Garden City Designed by Raymond Unwin and
Barry Parker in 1903.
The second one to evolve was Welwyn Garden City
Designed by Louis de Soissons and Frederic Osborn in
1920.
Another example was the Radburn City designed by
Clarence Stein and Henry Wright in 1928.

21. Letchworth,
England,
UK • 35 miles from London.
• Land of 3822 acres.
• Reserved green belt – 1300
acres.
• Designed for maximum population
of 35,000 people.
• In 30 years developed with
population of 15,000 and 150
shops and industries.
• Letchworth is an independent city
with a complete municipal life of
its own.
• It is an industrial city with all the
functions and activities of a self
contained community.
• It is planned as a home for all kind
of industries with facilities of

23. Welwyn,
England,
UK
• 24 miles from London.
• Land of 2378 acres.
• Designed for a maximum
population of 40,000 people.
• In 15 years – developed with a
population of 10,000 people and
50 shops and industries.
• Welwyn garden city was the
second garden city in England
(founded 1920) and one of the
first new towns (designed 1948).
• It is unique in being both a garden
city and a new town and
exemplifies the physical, social
and cultural planning ideals.
• Streets are designed so as to give
the concept of Neighborhood Unit.
• Separation of the pedestrian
walkways from the main roads
gives a sense of natural beauty.

25. Radburn,
New
Jersey
• Radburn was planned by
architects Clarence Stein and
Henry Wright in 1928.
• It is America’s first garden
community, serving as a world
wide example of the harmonious
blending of private space and
open area.
• Radburn provided a prototype for
the new towns to meet the
requirements for contemporary
good living.
• Radburn was designed to occupy
one square mile of land and
house some 25,000 residents.
• However, the Great depression
limited the development to only
149 acres.