GARDEN CITIES

“Garden cities allowed a genuine celebration and renewal of nature, even within an essentially urban industrial economy.” Garden cities have been the richest source of planning over the last century. Within the principles of garden cities many key principles of planning practice in the 20 th century can be found. Land use segregation Master planning Residential site planning Neighborhood units Road hierarchies Shopping malls Industrial parks Regional planning Planned decentralization Greenbelts

Sir Ebenezer Howard Sir Ebenezer Howard was the founder of garden cities. “His garden city embodies all the ideas championed by the current generation. It combines work and residence, provides housing for a wide range of incomes, and includes a town center with a well- defined civic space, all at a walking scale with easy access to parkland.” Bob Fisher APA panel

Garden Cities There are three garden cities designs that have influenced other cities. Letchworth, UK Greenbelt, MD Radburn, NJ

Letchworth, UK B. Parker and R. Unwin, the Architects of Letchworth, disliked the original geometric symmetry of Howard’s design and applied their own “organic unity” to the design. The industrial sector was not as Howard proposed and was separated by a park from the community. Although Letchworth was not the ideal garden city as Howard had imagined, it did demonstrate most of the ideals and principles of a garden city.

Greenbelt, MD

Greenbelt, MD (cont.) The city of Greenbelt was the first community in the U.S. built as a federal venture for housing. It was designed as a complete city, with businesses, schools, roads, and facilities for recreation and town government. Greenbelt was a planned community, noted for its interior walkways, underpasses, inner courtyards, and Art Deco Architecture. Greenbelt is the only of the three garden cities to flourish only because of the demonstration of the citizens residing in the community.

Radburn As a result of the Great Depression, Radburn became influenced by the post World War II suburban development. Only a portion of the development was completed because the developer went bankrupt during the Great Depression. 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. Members of the RPAA were often referred to as the ‘think tank.’

Radburn The main design intent for Radburn was to separate vehicular and pedestrian traffic. The Radburn planners achieved this seperation through the use of the superblocks, cul-de-sacs, and pedestrian-only pathways.

Radburn 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.

Radburn Construction of interior parks were heavily dependant on the development of Radburn’s road infrastructure. In a typical city plan, roads occupy about 35% of the total land area, however, in Radburn they occupy about 21% of the land area. These parks played a large role as a spatial component by tying together structures and circulation.

Radburn Radburn contains a very noticeable landmark that is constantly used as a form of reference and identity. The Plaza Building is Radburn’s only neighborhood shopping center, and its tall clock tower has been a neighborhood landmark since 1927.

Radburn The 2900 residents of Radburn share 23 acres of interior parks, which yield 345 square feet / person. These parks provide small districts for the city.

Radburn Radburn has very distinct edges. Bordered by a river to the south and east and a traditional gridiron system to the north-east which indirectly affected the later developments of Radburn. Radburn works as a garden city and a wonderful example of a well designed community because every piece is integrated perfectly into one body.

Conclusion Through the use of design ideas like the superblock, cul-de-sacs, and pedestrian pathways, Radburn was described by Thomas Adam as an “ideally planned place to live.”(Schaffer 4) The emphasis of the design was placed on the neighborhood unit. The design promoted open green spaces by reducing privately owned spaces, thus increasing the amount of public spaces. The design of Radburn attracted predominately middle and upper class individuals, but individuals with lower incomes also shared the same spaces. Lewis Mumford commented that the design “was the most forward step in town planning since Venice.”(Schaffer 4).