GARDEN CITIES OF TOMORROW

SIR EBENEZER HOWARD

 Sir Ebenezer Howard
(29th Januar y 1850– May 1st, 1928)
• AN INTRODUCTION -
• Sir Ebenezer Howard was born as the son of a shopkeeper in
the City of London, on 29th of January 1850.
• After schooling, he took on a number of clerical posts.
• In 1871, he emigrated to the frontier country of America to
become a farmer.
• He subsequently spent four years living in Chicago,
• witnessing it’s rebuilding following the great fire.
• It was during this time, he began to contemplate ways to
• improve cities.
 GARDEN CITY MOVEMENT: The Origin -

• Howard was heavily influenced by the utopian visions of Edward Bellamy and
his publication Looking Backward (1888).
• Sir Ebenezer Howard is known for his publication Garden Cities of To-morrow
(1898), the description of a utopian city in which people live harmoniously
together with nature.
• The ideas put forth in To-morrow were a synthesis of his personal experiences
and the works of others.
• The publication resulted in the founding of the garden city movement, that
realized several Garden Cities in Great Britain at the beginning of the 20th
century.
• The first garden cities proposed were Letchworth and Welwyn in 1903 and 1920
respectively.
 GARDEN CITIES OF TOMORROW : The Book –
• This book 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 Three Magnets diagram 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.
• These Garden cities were used as the model for many suburbs.
• 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.
 THE CURE - Sir Ebenezer Howard
• It is important to understand the context to which Howard’s work was a reaction.
• London (and other cities) in the 19th century were in the throws 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.
• 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."
 THE THREE MAGNETS - The People, Where will they go?
The Three Magnets Diagram (below) makes three points:
-Town life has good and bad characteristics
-Country life has good and bad characteristics
-Town-Country life can have all the good things about
life in towns and life in the country - without any of the
bad things.

TOWN COUNTRY
POSITIVE ASPECTS NEGATIVE ASPECTS POSITIVE ASPECTS NEGATIVE ASPECTS

• Social opportunity. • Closing out of nature. • Beauty of nature. • Lack of society

• Isolation of crowds. • High rents & prices. • Land lying idle. • Hands out of work.
• Places of • Foul air and Murky • Wood, meadow, • Trespassers beware.
amusement. sky. forest.
• Chances of • Slums & gin palaces. • Fresh air. • Low wages.
employment.
• Low rents. • Lack of drainage.
• High money wages. • Costly drainage.
• Abundance of water. • Lack of amusement.
• Well-lit streets.
• Bright sunshine. • No public spirit.
• Palatial edifices.
• Need for reform.
• Crowded dwellings.
• Deserted villages.
 TOWN-COUNTRY

COMBINATION OF 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.
The original Garden City concept by Ebenezer Howard, 1902.
GARDEN CITY PRINCIPLE
Assumed data-
•A total of 6000 acre estate
•1000 acres, purely for the central garden city as a home for 30000 people.
•Surrounding the central city 5000 Acres of land is retained for agriculture and
home for 2000 people, with cow pastures, farmlands, and welfare services.

GARDEN CITY DATAS

•Central City:
Area: 12000 acres. Population : 58000 people
•Agglomeration Cities: Area: 9000 acres Population: 32000 people
•Distance between central main city and the agglomeration: ~10km .
CONCEPTUAL LAYOUT
• 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 streets for houses are formed by a series of concentric ringed tree lined
avenues.
• Distance between each ring vary between 3-5km .
• 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.
• All the industries, factories and warehouses were placed at the periferal 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.

REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE

Howard goes to great lengths to demonstrate how the revenue derived simply
from rents could be used to:
•Pay the interest with which the estate was purchased (providing a 4% return
for the initial investors)
•Provide a sinking fund for the purpose of paying off the principal.
•Construct and maintain all the works typically undertaken by municipalities
(including a detailed breakdown of associated costs).
•Provide a large surplus for other purposes including old age pensions, medical
services and insurance.
ADMINISTRATION
•Howard did not advocate the complete municipalization of industry or the
elimination of private enterprise, instead he proposes a cautious and limited
municipality that doesn’t attempt “too much.”
• The activities are to be closely related to the rate-rent of the tenants and
would “grow in proportion as municipal work is done efficiently and honestly.”
•With this in mind the structure of the municipality and its administration is
proposed with a Board of Management composed of The Central Council and
The Departments (Public Control, Engineering, Social and Education).
CITY GROWTH
• Assuming the Garden City model was implemented and found to be successful
Howard begins to describe how the City could grow and become part of an
integrated network of Garden Cities.
• The principle of “always preserving a belt of country” around cities should
always be maintained, argues Howard, so once a city has reached capacity a
new one must be founded outside the agricultural belt (the influence of
colonial-models prominent).
• Eventually there a central city (of perhaps 58,000 inhabitants) would be
surrounded by a number of smaller off-shoot cities, connected by railroad and
canal infrastructure.
 Garden City Principle in Practice
• 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 Radburn City

designed by Clarence Stein and
Henry Wright in 1928.
 LATCHWORTH
• 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.
• Letch worth – 35 miles from London

An Analysis
• 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.

Latchworth Garden City- Arrangement from top.

 WELWYN
• Welwyn Garden City is a town within the
Borough of Welwyn
Hatfield in Hertfordshire, England.
• It is located approximately 19 miles
from Kings Cross and 24 miles from London.
• On 29 April 1920 a company, Welwyn Garden
City Limited, was formed to plan and build the
garden city, chaired by Sir Theodore
Chambers. Louis de Soissons was appointed
as architect and town planner and Frederic
Osborn as secretary.

An Analysis
.• Land of 2378 acres
• Designed for a maximum of 40000 population
• In 15 years – developed with 10000 population
& 50 shops, industries.
Welwyn Garden City- Arrangement from top.
• Streets are designed so as
to give the concept of a
Neighborhood unit.

• Separation of the pedestrian

walkways from the main
roads gives a sense of natural
beauty.

• Open and green spaces are

Given on a large scale.

• Personalization of Homes in
Welwyn with varying roofline,
texture and composition for
each house.
 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.
• Radburn created a unique alternative to the conventional suburban
development through the use of cul-de-sacs, interior parklands, and cluster
housing.
• Although Radburn is smaller than planned, it still plays a very important role
in the history of urban planning.
• The Regional Planning Association of America (RPAA) used Radburn as a
garden city experiment.
RADBURN CONSISTS OF-
• Residential areas
• 149 acres of interior parks,
• Walkways.
• 2 swimming pools,
• 4 tennis courts,
• 2 playgrounds,
• Archery plaza and a school,
• 2 outdoor basketball courts
• A community center, which houses administrative
offices, library, gymnasium, clubroom and service
and maintenance areas.
 ELEMENTS OF THE RADBURN CITY
• Park as backbone of the neighborhood.
• Specialized Highway system, Complete separation of vehicular and pedestrian
traffic with 21% of road areas.
• The Radburn planners achieved the separation of vehicular and pedestrian traffic
through the use of the superblocks, cul-de-sacs, and pedestrian-only pathways.
• Through the use of the superblock, houses in Radburn were uniquely designed
to have two fronts.
• The ‘back side’ of the house, what we would normally consider the front side,
faced the culs-de-sac and parking.
• The kitchen was normally placed in the back to provide visitors a place to enter
the house.
• The ‘front side’ of the house faced towards the green spaces or parks
encouraging pedestrian traffic.
• Since automobiles were given limited access to the ‘backs’ of the houses, the
‘fronts’ of the house were relatively quiet, therefore, the bedrooms were always
placed on this side of the house.
• The 2900 residents of Radburn share 23 acres of interior parks, which yield 345
square feet / person.
Housing blocks

Parks and greenbelt

Plaza building the shoping center

 Conclusion
• Ebenezer Howard’s Garden City concept shows us a place where genuine
urban activities are carried at human scale.
• The garden city introduced the use of greenbelts that have served many uses
including the preservation of agricultural and rural life, nature and heritage
conservation, recreation, pollution minimization, and growth management.
• Garden city tradition endowed urban planning with a social and community
dimensions.
• The garden city idea however, showed how both industrial estates and
collective retailing spaces could be used within a comprehensive planning
approach to serve public purposes.
REFERENCES & LITERATURE-
•MA Architecture + Urbanism, Manchester School of Architecture.
•Garden Cities of Tomorrow, Published by The University of Adelaide.
•Miller, Dr Mervyn (1998) Letchworth Garden City – Dream and Reality, Town and
Country Planning, October 1998.
•Hall, Peter and Ward, Colin (1998) Sociable Cities – the legacy of Ebenezer Howard,
Chichester, John Wiley and Sons Ltd.