A new government dedicated to reforming planning to boost economic growth and build more and better housing will want to avoid making mistakes.
So, this series of articles in Town and Country Planning, the journal of the Town & Country Planning Association, has been compiled to provide readily accessible evidence. Social Cities was Ebenezer Howard’s title for his original diagram for ‘a peaceful path to real reform’ which combined the best of town and country. His second pamphlet called Garden Cities of Tomorrow led on to Letchworth and Welwyn and many of the Post-War English New Towns. Howard’s core ideas were to build green and healthy towns connected by high quality public transit and funded from the ‘unearned increment’ of land values. These continue to inspire people of all political persuasions. Along with ideas such as the Compact City, they have influenced planning the world over, but need to be brought up to date.
