In response to the overcrowding and poor living conditions that resulted from the Industrial Revolution, Ebenezer Howard developed the Garden City Movement. This was an experiment in town planning that aimed to contain urban sprawl through the creation of self-reliant satellite towns with minimal dependence on parent cities. In Western Australia, town planners like Percy Hope and Carl Klem were influenced by Howard's ideals and sought to address social issues through planning. Hope and Klem's firm dominated planning in Western Australia, illustrating how Garden City suburbs could be successfully implemented in Australia while promoting healthy living. Some of the suburbs they planned, like Ascot, Redcliffe, and Daglish, still reflect Garden City principles today through features like green

1. Influencing Factors in Western Australian Town Planning History
The Industrial Revolutionsawamassiveincrease inthe movementof rural peopleintothecities,which
resulted in the over-crowding of ill-prepared dwellings within ill-organised and disorientating
communities.The humanexperience of thistime washarsh:life wascheapandindustrywasking.As
a resultthe urban infrastructure surroundingthese citieswasinsharp decay,and residencesquickly
became slums. Slums were mean and dismal places, where poverty bred poverty; people were
uneducated;childrenworkedonindustrial sitesandhadno access to education;starvationwasvery
real; and disease, sickness, and vermin were rife.
In response in to the harshness of the time, Ebenezer Howard developed a utopian ideal to counter
the devastatingeffectsof urbanovercrowding.This wasanexperimentbasedintownplanning,which
he termed‘The GardenCity Movement’.The GCMsets outto containthe urban sprawl of dormitory
style suburbs,andinitsplace create satellitetownsthatare self-reliantwithminimal dependency on
the parent city.
In Western Australia those responsible for planning the suburbs were influenced by Ebenezer
Howard’s ideals and were passionate about the use of town planning to address social issuesfacing
society. These men were visionaries,andeachof them was regardedas communityleaders andthey
advocated social change. The foundations of Western Australia’s first Town Planning Association
gatheredsupportcirca 1916 but legislationtook andformedthe basis of the State’slegislative Town
Planningsystem. Theassociationsoughttoimprovethestandardsoflivingthroughthe actof planning.
Theirobjective wasbasedonthe wordsof JohnBurnsfromthe EnglishTownPlanningAct,which was
delivered by Harold Boas at the Metropolitan Town Planning Commission Report (MTPA) report:
“comfort in the house; health in the home; dignity in the streets; space in our roads and
lessening of noises,the smoke,thesmells, the advertisements,thenuisancesthataccompany
a city without hopefully [sic] a plan, because its rulers are governors without ideas, and its
citizens withouthopefuloutlookand imagination.Industry isthecondition of the city’s being;
health, convenience and beauty are the conditions of its well-being”i
.
Within the group that influenced the shape of town planning in Western Australia was, Percy Hope
and Carl Klem. Hope and Klem were relatedby marriage, as well they workedtogether in business.
Their consultant firm was known as Hope and Klem Surveyors, which was responsible for surveying
and planning many urban suburbs and rural townships. Their style of planning was favoured with
developers, which resulted in their firm dominating the planning landscape of Western Australia.
Furthermore,Hope and Klemboth were stronglyinvolvedwiththe TownPlanningAssociation. Their
work in Western Australia illustrated how the Garden City suburb could successfully be transposed
onto the Australian landscape as well as promoting the human experience. Additionally, their work
provides examples of the most forward thinking and technologically advanced planning techniques
available at the time.
The remnantsof suburbsthat theywere responsible forandthat were modelledonthe principlesof
the GCM can still be seenin(toname a few) Ascot, partsof Redcliffe, andDaglish.Of all the suburbs
Daglishremainsalmost untouchedbyurbanexpansion andforthe mostpart has not seenthe
devastatingeffectsof landacquisitionforinfrastructure orforurbaninfill.Today,eachone of these
suburbsremainsomewhatprotectedfromthe hype of urbanisation,throughHope &Klems
integratedplanningprinciplessuchas;
the use of greenbeltstoprotectthe suburbfrom industry,noise andpassingtraffic.Widerstreetsto
increase asense of space,alongwithparklandsandpublicopenspace forfamiliestoengage with

2. nature.Reliable accesstopublictransportthatisinclose proximityto resident’shomes,aswell as
easyaccess to publicutilitiessuchaspostoffices,shopschurchesand schools.Finallyspace foreach
residenttofullyimmerse himself tothe landandthe home,allowinghimtomake full use of the gifts
of nature,toprovide hisfamilywithasafe anddurable home andenoughlandtocultivate hisown
vegetable gardentoprovide hisfamilywithhomegrownfood andproduce toraise stronghealthy
children.
i Freestone. R. 1989. “Model Communities. The Garden Movement in Australia”. Thomas Nelson Australia.
Melbourne. VIC.