Ebenezer Howard: Garden Cities of To-morrow (1902).pdf

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Ebenezer Howard: Garden Cities of To-morrow (1902)

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336_Days tumblr @jackpb's MA A+U tumblr Reviewed by Luke Butcher Perhaps one of the most influential books in the field of urban planning in the past 150 years, Garden Cities of To-morrow was the second edition title (1902) of Ebenezer Howard’s book To-morrow: A Peaceful

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Path to Reform (1898). Within its pages Howard put forth designs for a

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“social city” that attempted to bridge between the individualist

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(capitalist) system of the time and the ideals of socialism that were

EAMONN CANNIFFE

gaining political impetus, with Trade Unions, Co-operatives and ideas

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of communal land protection (central to Howard’s argument).

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Dreamt up during a time when countries were beginning to urbanize

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(15% of the world’s population were urban, a rapidly growing figure),

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there were squalid living and working environments and the working class were unable to afford a decent home. Howard’s response was just one of numerous utopian visions that spoke of a better future, with the key difference being that he aimed to produce a scheme that was both realistic and achievable. The model of a “Garden City” set out in the first chapter of the book is

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ultimately the greatest legacy of the book, rightly or wrongly, with the

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subsequent formation of the Garden City Association in 1899 (that 42

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years later would become the Town and Country Planning Association)

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leading to the “Garden City Movement.” The construction of two

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garden cities – at Letchworth (1903) and Welwyn (1919) – would act as

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further catalysts for change, that culminated, but was not way limited to, the post-Second World War New Towns Act. Ebenezer Howard

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Born the son of a shopkeeper in the City of London, on the 29th of

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January 1850, Howard, after schooling, took on a number of clerical posts. In 1871, aged 21, he emigrated to the ‘frontier country’ of

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America to become a farmer. This would prove unsuccessful and he

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subsequently spent four years living in Chicago, witnessing its’ rebuilding following the great fire. It was during this time he began to

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contemplate ways to improve cities. He eventually returned to London,

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in 1876, to a job producing the official verbatim record of Parliament.

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This would become the primary occupation for the rest of his life and meant he was constantly exposed to the political elite of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Howard began to move in certain social circles, originally through

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various religious groups, that saw him become involved in late-19th century English social reformism, without ever entering into the socialist mainstream. His political ideologies were more closely aligned

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to that of the co-operative movement, as opposed to trade union

Eamonn Canniffe leads the

movement.

Architecture Research Centre and the MA in

In addition to these socialist ideologies Howard was heavily influenced

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by the utopian visions of Edward Bellamy and his publication Looking

the Manchester School of

Backway (1888). According to the ‘great admirer’ of Howard, Frederick

Architecture. He was educated in

J. Osborn, “under the impact of the book the conception of an ideal

Architecture at Cambridge and

town came to him as essentially a socialist community.” Howard, in the

Harvard Universities. In 1996 he held

book itself, highlights three major influences: the proposals for an

a Rome Scholarship in the Fine Arts

organized migratory movement of population by Edward Gibbon

at the British School at Rome.

Wakefield and Professor Alfred Marshall; the system of land tenure

Between 1986 and 1998 he taught at

proposed by Thos. Spence; and the model city of James Buckingham.

the University of Manchester School

The ideas put forth in To-morrow were a synthesis of his personal

of Architecture, and between 1998

experiences and the works of others.

and 2006 at the University of Sheffield School of Architecture. He is

The Evil of the City

the author of Urban Ethic: Design in the Contemporary City (Routledge

“We are becoming a land of great cities. Villages are stationary or

2006) (Chinese edition 城市

理--当

receding; cities are enormously increasing. And if it be true that the

代城市

great cities tend more and more to become the graves of the physique

the Piazza: the history and meaning of

of our race, can we wonder at it when we see the houses so foul, so

the Italian square (Ashgate 2008). He

squalid, so ill-drained, so vitiated by neglect and dirt?”

is co-author (with Tom Jefferies) of

Dean Fararr

Manchester Architecture Guide

2013) and The Politics of

(1999) and (with Peter Blundell It is important to understand the context to which Howard’s work was

Jones) of Modern Architecture

a reaction. London (and other cities) in the 19th century were in the

through Case Studies 1945-1990

throws of industrialization, and the cities were exerting massive forces

(Architectural Press 2007), (Chinese

on the labour markets of the time. Massive immigration from the

edition

countryside to the cities was taking place with London compared to “a

2009) (Spanish edition Modelos de la

tumour, an elephantiasis sucking into a gorged system[s] half the life

Arquitectura Moderna -Volumen II

and blood and the bone of the rural districts” (Lord Rosebery). This

1945-1990 2013). For a number of

situation was unsustainable and political commentators of all parties

years he has served as Architecture

sought “how best to provide the proper antidote against the greatest

Series Editor for Ashgate Publishing.

danger of modern existence” (St. Jame’s Gazette, 1892) – the importance of the Boer Wall call up and the realization that the health

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of the English fighting man had greatly deteriorated can not be forgotten either. The Three Magnets

1945--1990年

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► 2016 (20) ► 2015 (40) To Howard the cure was simple – to reintegrate people with the

► 2014 (51)

countryside. In trying to understand and represent the attraction of the

► 2013 (58)

city he compared each city to a magnet, with individuals represented as

► 2012 (78)

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

► 2011 (65) ▼ 2010 (47)

beauty of nature are meant to be enjoyed together” – his solution “the

► December (4)

two magnets must be made one.”

► November (4)

The Town-Country Magnet Building on the principles of the Three Magnets, Howard begins to establish a hypothetical scenario for the testing of his proposals for social reform. To do this the reader is asked to imagine a 6,000-acre estate, purchased for £240,000 and vested in trust to four honourable gentlemen. The Garden City itself was to cover 1,000 acres and be home to 30,000 people. Taking a circular form the city would be divided into six equal Wards, by six main Boulevards (named for pioneers of Human thought) that radiated from a central garden. Around the centre garden would be placed the civic institutions (Town Hall, Library, etc) and then a ‘Central Park,’ which in turn is enclosed by a ‘Crystal Palace’ – an arcade of indoor shops and winter garden. A series of concentric ringed tree-lined Avenues provide the major streets for houses, with a ‘Grand Avenue’ 420-feet wide that is both a 3-mile continuous public park and home to schools and churches. At the edge of the city Howard placed the ‘heavy’ industry of factories and warehouses, with direct access to a Municipal railway that aimed to alleviate pressure on the cities street network and connect the Garden City to the rest of the nation. Surrounding the city the remaining 5,000 acres are a designated Agricultural Belt, home to 2,000 people, with

▼ October (8) Ebenezer Howard: Garden Cities of To-morrow (1902)... Architecture + Urbanism recommends: Moretti at MAX... Volker M Welter: Biopolis Patrick Geddes and the... Architecture + Urbanism recommends: Villa Frankens... Architecture + Urbanism recommends: Notes from the... MA A+U Colloquium 2010 Tibetan Talk Cities and Urban Ideologies 2010 ► September (4)

cow pastures, farmland and welfare services including an asylum. Despite being incredibly descriptive in his proposal Howard repeats on a number of occasions that the design and ideas on planning he puts

► August (4) ► July (5) ► June (6)

forth should not be taken verbatim, instead any design should be

► May (5)

entirely dependent on the context. The principles, which Howard

► April (5)

wanted to emphasise, were not morphological – with the exception of an agricultural belt to limit city growth and concentrate social life within the city (Robert Fishman) – but sociological.

► March (1) ► January (1)

Revenue and Expenditure BIBLIOGRAPHY

Central to Howard’s argument was that the Garden City could operate economically and allow the community to have ownership of the land.

Camillo Sitte

He 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

CITY PLANNING ACCORDING TO ARTISTIC PRINCIPLES (1889)

municipalities (including a detailed breakdown of associated costs) - Provide a large surplus for other purposes including old age pensions, medical services and insurance Administration In dealing with the administration of the Garden City the first question

Ebenezer Howard

to be dealt with is the extent to which municipal enterprise is carried out and to what extent it should supersede private enterprise. Howard does not advocate the complete municipalisation 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

GARDEN CITIES OF TOMORROW (1902)

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,

Raymond Unwin

Engineering, Social and Education). A Welfare Municipality The Garden City proposal could be read as being in a state of tension between individual and social ideals. This is particularly evident in the explanation of how to create local choice, in terms of goods and services available to citizens, is made by heavily regulated private enterprise. Instead of “an absurd multiplication of shops” providing the same service – a single shop is allowed with the threat of competition

TOWN PLANNING IN PRACTICE (1909)

(if the community feels the shop keeper is keeping prices to high,

Tony Garnier

paying insufficient wages to his employees, etc) designed to keep prices low and service high. These local tradesmen are in essence municipal servants in all but title; not being bound in what Howard calls the “red tape of officialism.”

UNE CITE INDUSTRIELLE (1918)

Howard hopes that, as opposed to other socialist (including communist) reform experiments of the day, that his proposal would appeal to not only individuals but to co-operators, manufacturers, philanthropic societies, and others experienced in organisation. City Growth Le Corbusier 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

URBANISME (1929)

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). The off-shoot city would grow organically, a ward at a time. 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.

Anatole Kopp

Dystopian London Howard ultimately turns his attention back to London, as an example of the “largest and most unwieldy” of 19th century cities, predicting

TOWN AND REVOLUTION:

that Garden Cities had the potential to dramatically change London: reducing population, clearing sums and ultimately turning it into a Garden City. “The time for the complete reconstruction of London – which will

SOVIET ARCHITECTURE AND CITY PLANNING 1917-35 (1970)

eventually take place on a far more comprehensive scale than that now exhibited in Paris, Berlin, Glasgow, Birmingham or Vienna – has however, not yet come. A simpler problem must first be solved. One small Garden City must be built as a working model…” These predictions are the most utopian of the book and perhaps would have come to fruition if not for a number of external factors that

Eric Mumford

Howard either couldn’t have foreseen or failed to realise the importance of – notably the rise of the automobile. Legacy of Howard and the Garden City When To-morrow was first published the world was very different to the media-rich urban environment we currently inhabit. Despite this Ebenezer Howard is still regarded as one of the most important figures

THE CIAM DISCOURSE ON URBANISM (2000)

in the international development of urban planning. His simple diagrams of the model city have been taken up and reinterpreted a hundred times over across the globe but Howard’s most cherished

Alison + Peter Smithson

ideas of social reform had very little impact – his social reformist message was lost. “Very quickly, the Garden City came to be understood in a more limited sense, as an urban planning model to reform the spatial arrangement

THE CHARGED VOID: URBANISM (2004)

of social and economic life. It is through this understanding that Howard’s legacy has largely been experienced.” (Stephen V. Ward). He set in motion new ideas about hierarchy of services within the city, the essential components of community, being planned with clear zoning principles. Whilst the ideas about hierarchy and zoning were not original in themselves, it was the holistic approach that Howard

Simon Sadler

adopted that helped lend them legitimacy. The idea of the agricultural belt, the ‘bounded’ city, is directly responsible for policies of ‘Green Belt’ in the UK (and other parts of the world) that has since evolved and changed but essentially remains about constricting and controlling

THE SITUATIONIST CITY (1999)

urban growth. Additionally, the debate about the future of American Cities in the 1950s, with the infamous arguments between Jacobs and Mumford, can be traced back to the Garden City Movement. It will forever be associated with the ideas of suburbia and, increasingly, new urbanism.

Kevin Lynch

If there was one enduring legacy though, beyond the physical make-up of the city, it is the importance Howard gave to creating a sense of community and harbouring relationships between human beings, enhancing them through good planning and design that promoted sociability.

THE IMAGE OF THE CITY (1960)

Garden Cities of To-morrow Micro Site You might also like:

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THE DEATH AND LIFE OF GREAT AMERICAN CITIES (1965) Ebenezer Howard: Garden Cities of Tomorrow (1902)

Aldo Rossi (193197): The Architecture of the City

Kevin Lynch: The Image of the City (1960)

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4 COMMENTS: Alexander 14 February 2011 at 01:12 Enlightening and most helpful. After also reading Carolyn Steel's chapter on Howard in Hungry City I am now inspired to argue in a coming presentation to planners and councillors in the Netherlands that sustainable urban planning is ONLY achievable when coupled with land reform. Knowing Letchworth intimately from childhood it was always fascinating because it had the atmosphere (30-40 years ago) of a handsomely begun plan that was fundamentally flawed.

TOPOLOGIES: THE URBAN UTOPIA IN FRANCE 1960-1970 (2007)

Aldo Rossi

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Andrés Jiménez 15 December 2015 at 10:17 Very clear and helpful! Thanks a lot!. I made my Msc. Thesis about a Greenbelt Proposal. Right now I'm reviewing it 6 months later to make some arrengements and present it to the city hall. Now I have time and less pressure that 6 months ago so I can read and analyze better the information.

THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE CITY (1966)

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James Brown 18 July 2016 at 15:43

Colin Rowe and Fred Koetter

Absolutely posting! Lots of useful information and inspiration, both of which we all need!Relay appreciate your work. architects in Pakistan Reply

COLLAGE CITY (1978)

Fred Harrington 29 November 2016 at 20:54 I've never seen those 3 magnets, they're so logical when you look at them in an infographic! I definitely don't need any encouragement to be reintegrated into the countryside. Fred H | Amazing Support

Rem Koolhaas

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DELIRIOUS NEW YORK (1978)

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