Victorian cities evoke images of crowded tenements where social unrest and epidemic disease were rampant. Conditions in nineteenth-century London, in particular, sparked efforts to find alternative plans for urban development.
The most influential alternative to the Victorian city was Ebenezer Howard's Garden City, an idea he sketched in his modest book To-Morrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform. First published in 1898, To-Morrow attempted to improve the material condition of working-class families through a vision of new communities which would provide a better quality of life. Howard's legacy grew throughout the twentieth century in garden cities, suburbs, and green towns; a century later, architects and planners are still motivated by his ideas.
Published on the one hundredth anniversary of Garden Cities of To-Morrow (1902), the more familiar version of Howard's pathbreaking book, the ten essays in this new volume place Howard's legacy in its historic context and show its continuing relevance for urban, regional, and environmental planners. Following a biographical essay, three articles trace the influence of Howard's ideas on the development of the modern metropolis, while another four address his concepts regarding the arrangement of housing and community life and show how they have influenced subsequent development. Two closing essays assess critical aspects of Howard's legacy for the twenty-first century.
The contributors focus on the timeless significance of Howard's ideas about limits to growth, the effectiveness of agricultural greenbelts in growth management, and the use of physical space to promote human interaction, as well as the relevance of Howard's work to the New Urbanism and sustainability movements.
International in scope, with original and provocative scholarship, From Garden City to Green City is a tribute to Howard's ideals of cooperation, justice, and environmentalism in urban planning.
