Three Magnets
By the last decade of the 19th century around 80% of the population of England was living in urban settings, lured from the countryside by the prospect of finding streets paved with gold only to find that they were living in crowded and insanitary conditions. Some enlightened thinkers began to consider how the dreadful conditions could be improved. One such was parliamentary stenographer, Ebenezer Howard, who thought the answer was to combine the best of the town with the best of the country.
“Human society”, he wrote in Tomorrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform (1898), “and the beauty of nature are meant to be enjoyed together…Town and Country must be married, and out of this joyous union will spring a new hope, a new life, a new civilisation”. Not content with pious platitudes, Howard formed the Garden City Association in 1899 with the intention of promoting social justice, economic efficiency, beautification, health, and well-being in an urban setting.
Most dramatically, he summarised his vision of a garden city, encapsulating the best of both words, in a diagram which appeared as a frontispiece to his Garden Cities of Tomorrow (1902). It featured three magnets: the first two magnets represented the advantages and disadvantages of urban and country life while a third combined the advantages of both to provide a panacea for urban planning.
His vision foresaw strong community engagement, community ownership of land, mixed-tenure homes that were genuinely affordable, a wide range of local jobs within easy commuting distance of homes, well-designed homes with gardens, green infrastructure, cultural, recreational, and shopping facilities, and integrated and accessible transport. Each town would be limited to 32,000 residents, be self-sufficient as far as possible, and have a circular design.
The first manifestation of Howard’s design concept was Letchworth, the world’s first garden city, construction of which began in 1903. Howard had to raise the monies necessary from “gentlemen of responsible position and undoubted probity and honour” who would collect interest on their investment if the garden city made profits through rents, a move which inevitably meant that he had to compromise on his principles, including the elimination of the co-operative ownership scheme and employing architects who did not agree with his rigid design plans.
Nevertheless, with just twelve houses to an acre, clearly defined building standards, tree-lined roads, generous open spaces, and factories, such as the Spirella factory, light and airy with two glazed workshop wings, much of Howard’s vision came to fruition. One of the architects, Barry Parker, even lived in a semi-detached house on Letchworth Lane from 1906 to 1935.
The garden city concept as epitomised by Letchworth gained worldwide acclaim. Frustrated, though, by government’s unwillingness to adopt his design principles, Howard raised enough money in 1919 to buy land at auction in Welwyn. The Welwyn Garden City Corporation was formed to oversee the construction, but although it is the UK’s second garden city its proximity to London, just twenty miles away, meant that it was never self-sufficient.
There might be only two garden cities in England, but Howard’s three magnets emphasised the need for urban planning policies that eventually led to the New Town movement.
