Sarah
Plaatzer
The garden city is a dominate planning
model throughout the twentieth century and is evident in cities all over the
world. This idea appears in many cities even before it is communicated properly
between countries. This is probably due to the aesthetic appeal it brings with
it and elements from the idea are considered beautiful. It is generally
associated with ‘utopia’, which also suggests a perfect environment. This essay
will discuss how planning has been implemented into cities in the 20th
century especially garden cities and how it has modified the idea of town
planning overall.
England was the first country to begin
adopting the idea of planning especially due to Ebenezer Howard’s idea of the
garden city. The garden city is an important element within British planning
with Letchworth being the first garden city established in 1903 (Ward,
2002). This idea also led to the creation of
garden suburbs such as Hampstead, which also allowed citizens to live in towns
and villages incorporated with natural features (Hall,
2014). Letchworth and Hampstead were both
planned by Barry Parker and Raymond Unwin who had a large impact on the
development of the idea of town planning. During this time their designs of
garden suburbs led to John Nettlefold describing the way the land is used as
‘town planning’. This resulted in Britain’s first planning legislation in 1909,
which led to further development of garden suburbs and the way they are shaped (Ward,
2002). This legal status created job
prospects within the field with Thomas Adams becoming the first planning
professional. By creating these extra fields and defining the overall idea it
creates an ability to further advance in the area and begin to do more with the
urban areas. Not only did England develop their urban areas for the better but
they also influenced other countries to establish similar ideologies.
Germany followed England along the
lines of the garden city. This way of planning began to lead to other thinking
in terms of the health and wellbeing of the German community. Not only this but
it began the planning movement within this county. The “German Letchworth” was
Hellerau was established in 1908 and although it began with a low population it
displayed job prospects for residents along with low-density housing, which
exhibited the vision that Howard originally had. Not only was the aesthetic
appeal that the city created more traditional than England but it also drew
ideas from historic German towns. This would have been important as it adds a
unique quality and begins to turn the city in to one of their own rather than
conforming to other urban areas in this era. German’s also borrowed a term from
the English language, planung. This allowed them to further define the
developments they were making in the area of town planning and design.
France was also a country developing
their town planning in the early twentieth century. Tony Garnier was a French
architect who created the concept of cité industrielle in France, which had a
number of similarities to the garden city. His plan was comprised of a main
city with smaller areas attached and he also featured the green belts (Wiebenson,
1960). Le credo des Cité-Jardins displays
the impact that the idea of garden cities had on the French way of thinking.
Not only is the link between nature and humans clearly evident, but it suggests
that garden cities perhaps provide a better quality of living overall and how
important this design was.
Contrastingly, the United States did
not adopt the garden city as much as the previous examples and this is mainly
due to their urban area already being developed and lived in by a quarter of
the population. At the beginning of the 1900s the city mainly focused on its
beauty but this was linked to a large number of limitations within the design
and also living conditions. This led to the development of the city’s
functionality and in turn established quality transportation through their
orderly development.
Ultimately, a range of these ideas and
designs impact the way in which cities are planned today. The garden city and
suburb’s cul-de-sacs were lined with trees and these are elements that are
present within most of our own urban areas today. However, this idea of garden
suburbs was a dominant planning feature within Australia in 1914 and has
existed since. This planning technique has allowed Australians to escape the
typical Banjo Patterson’s portrayal of Australian urban areas: “foetid air and
gritty of the dusty, dirty city” (Ward,
2002). This new way of planning displayed
nature within low-density areas rather than the typical landscape associated
with Australia.
From other examples used in Ward
(2002) majority of the urban areas used trees
in a aesthetic way however, currently they encompass a wide range of other
benefits. These include economic benefits such as consumer behaviour and
property value, social benefits such as crime reduction and environmental
benefits such as fuel use, noise reduction and hyrodology (Hastie,
2003). This exhibits how 20th
century planning is continuously being developed and used to suit future urban
needs.
The developments that occurred within
the 20th century especially of the different types of planning
models and the planning profession allowed for more possibilities within the
future. These planning elements are still being used today and are assisting
the expansion of our cities to ensure they not only survive but also continue
to be functional and aesthetically pleasing.
References
Hall, P. (2014). Cities of Tomorrow: An Intellectual History
of Urban Planning and Design Since 1880. Chichester: John Wiley.
Hastie, C. (2003). The Benefits of Urban
Trees. In WarwickDistrictCouncil (Ed.).
Ward, S. (2002). The Emergence of Modern
Planning Planning the Twentieth Century
(pp. 45-80). Chichester: John Wiley.
Wiebenson, D. (1960). Utopian Aspects of
Tony Garnier's Cité Industrielle. Journal
of the Society of Architectural Historians, 19(1), 16-24. doi:
10.2307/987962
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