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EBENEZER HOWARDINTRODUCTIONSir Ebenezer HowardOBE(29 January 1850 1 May 1928) is known for his publicationGarden Cities of To-morrow(1898), the description of autopiancity in which people live harmoniously together with nature. The publication resulted in the founding of thegarden city movement, that realized several Garden Cities in Great Britain at the beginning of the 20th century. This movement influenced the development of several model suburbs such asForest Hills Gardensdesigned byF. L. Olmsted Jr.in 1909,Radburn NJ(1923) and the Suburban Resettlement Program towns of the 1930s (Greenbelt, Maryland,Green hills, Ohio,Greenbrooke, New JerseyandGreendale, Wisconsin).Howard aimed to reduce the alienation of humans and society from nature, and hence advocated garden citiesand Georgism.Howard is believed by many to be one of the great guides to the town planning movement, with many of his garden city principles being used in modern town planning.EARLY LIFEHoward was born inFore Street, City of London, the son of Ebenezer Howard (18181900), a confectioner,and Ann (ne Tow, born 1818). He was sent to schools in Suffolk and Hertfordshire. Howard left school at 15 and began working as a clerk in London.Howard subsequently had severalclerical jobs, including one with Dr Parker of the City Temple. In 1871, at the age of 21, influenced partly by a farming uncle, Howard emigrated with two friends to America. He went toNebraska, and after his farming effortsfailed, discovered he did not wish to be a farmer.He then relocated to Chicago and worked as a reporter for the courts and newspapers. In the US he became acquainted with, and admired, poetsWalt WhitmanandRalph Waldo Emerson. Howard began to ponder ways to improve the quality of life.

GARDEN CITIES (a British innovation)Ebenezer Howard: Garden Cities of Tomorrow(1902)three magnetsTown (high wages, opportunity, and amusement)Country(natural beauty, low rents, fresh air)Town country(combination of both)Separated from central city by green belt.Two actually built in England.LetchworthWelwynTHE GARDEN CITY MOVEMENTNew cities supported by core urban.Green spacesPedestrian spacesCentral shopping areaLinked by public transportationSeveral cities in UK and USA based on these concepts(Radburn, New Jersey, USA Reston, Virginia USA, Letchworth UK and Welwyn UK.

HOW HE CONCEIVED IT

Ebenezer howard wanted to solve the increasing problems of towns and hence he proposed a solution in the form of the garden city. He attempted to explain his idea through the diagram of the three magnets.The three magnetsHe mentioned the advantages and the disadvantages of both town life and country life on the respective two magnets- namely town magnet and country magnetAdvantages of town magnet being Opportunities of work, high wages , social opportunities and amusements , proper streets and sanitationDisadvantages of a towndistance from work, isolation of crowds , dirty air and the slumsWhereas advantages of country are natural beauty, fresh airOn the third magnet he listed down attractive features of both towncountry life and posed the problem of where would people goHence the conception of garden city which aimed to combine the advantages of both country and town lifeExamples letchworth "Town and country must be married, and out of this joyous union will spring a new hope, a new life, a new civilization." Ebenezer Howard

According to Sir Ebenezer Howard, garden cities were intended to be planned, self-contained, communities surrounded by greenbelts, containing carefully balanced areas of residences, industry and agriculture.

Howards proposal emphasized the integration of the town and the country.

He found out that both have advantages and function as magnets do. Therefore, his solution was to develop a city structure which contains the advantages of a city and those of the countryside.

He expressed this in his image of The Three Magnets.

TOWNClosing out of natureIsolation of crowdsDistant work placesHigh rents and pricesSlums and crowded dwellingsSocial opportunityPlaces of amusementHigh money wagesChances of employment

COUNTRYLack of societyHands out of workLow wages and rentsLack of drainageLack of amusementNo public spiritBeauty of natureFresh airAbundance of waterBright sunshineNeed of re-formLand lying idle

TOWN-COUNTRYFreedom Beauty of natureLow rentsLow pricingField for enterprisePure air and waterBright homes and gardensSocia opportunityHigh wagesPlenty to doFlow of capitalGood drainageNo smoke, no slumsCo-operation

GARDEN CITIES CONCEPTLimited sizePlanned in advanceIndependent townsSurrounded by a permanent belt of agricultural landPerfect blend of city with natureA balance of work and leisureA balance of control and freedomA harmonious relation between the machine and garden

Plan of an Ideal Garden City

Plan of an Ideal Garden City Engraving: from 'Garden Cities of Tomorrow' by Sir Ebenezer Howard (1902)PLANNING PRINCIPLES1. SETTELMENT STRUCTUREHe started with discussions of the optimum size for towns in which a central city of 58,000 people was surrounded by smaller garden cities of 30,000 people each. Green spaces or a greenbelt and agricultural land would be a major component in the garden city whereby the permanent green space would separate the city and towns and serving as a horizontal fence of farmland. The requirement of the greenbelt or agricultural land for the Garden City in Howards view was 5,000 acres of the total 6,000 acres

2. CI T Y ST R U C T U R E:The Garden City consists for different zones, street types and green spaces. The core in the centre is about 4 km and contains a central park, surrounded by commercial, cultural and administrative zones. Six magnificent boulevards connect the centre with the circumference, dividing the city into six parts. A wide (Grand Avenue) and some smaller (First to Fifth Avenue) ring roads are arranged circular around the centre, and together with the radial roads, they form the wards -living area.

City layoutSix magnificent boulevards-each 120 feet wide-traverse the city from centre to circumference, dividing it into six equal parts or wards.In the central circular space covering area5acres lies a beautiful and well-watered garden.Surrounding this garden, are the larger public buildings-town hall, principal concert, lecture hall ,theatre , library,museum,picture-gallery,and hospital.

Diagram showing one section or ward of the town

AGRICULTURE LAND ON THE PERIPHERYAGRICULTURE LANDINDUSTRIESCity layout

Running all round the Central Park is a wide glass arcade called the 'Crystal Palace', containing 145 acres.The space enclosed by the Crystal Palace is, larger than is required for these purposes, and a considerable part of it is used as a Winter Gardenthe whole forming a permanent exhibition of a most attractive character.Out of the Crystal Palace-to the outer ring of the town lies the Fifth Avenuelined with trees.The houses are built either in concentric rings, facing the boulevards and roads which all converge to the centre of the town.Walking toward the outskirts of the town, lies the Grand Avenue.It is 420 feet wide ,and, divides that part of the town which lies outside Central Park into two belts.In this splendid avenue six sites,each of four acres,are occupied by public schools and their surrounding playgrounds and garden.

On the outer ring of the town are factories, warehouses,dairies,markets,coalyards,timberyards,etc.There fuse of the town is utilized on the agricultural portions of the estate, divided in large farms, small holdings ,allotments ,cow pastures, etc.The ring and radial pattern of his imaginary garden city was a plan that many other writers of the time also favored, because of its perceived superiority from both engineering and architectural view points.

3. CI T Y EX P A N S I O N: To avoid problems which occur in expanding cities, the concept limits the city .maximum population up to 32,000 people. Further growing of the Garden City is not possible; therefore a new city has to be founded in a reasonable distance of about 7 km to the others to protect the country side.The cities are well connected through a railway system to exchange goods.

LETCHWORTH GARDEN CITY , UK

introductionLetchworth Garden City started in 1903 in Hertfordshire, UK was one of the first new towns and is an early example of urban planning considered alongside strategies of community management and economic sustainability. The brainchild of Ebenezer Howard (1850-1928) it was based on ideas first disseminated in his book,To-morrow: a Peaceful Path to Real Reform(1898) reissued asGarden Cities of To-morrow(1902), which outlined a model for self-sustaining towns combining the convenience of urban life with the advantages of a countryside location, surrounded by an agricultural greenbelt that provided jobs and food. The book generated a lot of interest, enabling Howard to found the Garden Cities Association in 1899 and raise enough money for Letchworth to be delivered entirely by private enterprise.

letchworth

An experiment in social reform as much as town planning, it was put into practice when First Garden City Ltd was formed in 1903 and purchased around 1600 hectares (almost 4000 acres) of agricultural land in the three adjacent villages of Letchworth, Willian and Norton. The site met the need for good communication: it is close to the old Great North Road (now the A1 motorway) and on the London Kings Cross to Cambridge rail route (now electrified).

A competition to determine the layout and character of the new town was won by the architects Barry Parker and Raymond Unwin, whose plan was adopted in 1904. The town was based either side of the railway, which separates it into a northern and southern half. Residential and industrial zones were carefully separated, the latter to the east of the town, so that the prevailing winds would take smoke away from housing.

Despite a slow start, the town quickly developed a character of its own: houses influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement characterize the early residential areas, while the presence of trees and grass verges everywhere gives an ubiquitous impression of greenery. The original town square, now Broadway Gardens, is dominated by the Town Hall of 1935, with the Museum (1914), Library (1938) and St Hugh of Lincoln's RC Church (1962) to the south-east, and the former Grammar School (1931) and St Michael and All Angels CoE Church (1968) to the north-west.

United kingdoms first round about

The commercial centre was laid out with broad pavements, while a 1975 pedestrian precinct and recent traffic calming measures make shopping a pleasant affair than in many places, in harmony with Howard's ideals. The centre also boasts the district's only cinema - the Art Deco Broadway Cinema, which currently has three screens, and is soon to gain another. East of the town centre, Howard Park and Howard Garden have been a public open space since 1906, while the 25 hectare (63 acres) Norton Common was designated as a 'people's park' in the early plans for the town. The town has good leisure and sporting facilities, including a lido style open air swimming pool in Norton Common, a 1980s Leisure Centre on Baldock Road and a state-of-the art tennis club.

WELWYN GARDEN CITY WELWYN GARDEN CITY

Welwyn was an area of woodlands and open fields before the garden city was constructed.Welwyn was Howard's second Garden City after Letchworth. Howard purchased the land with 5000 borrowed from friends. Welwyn is only 20 miles from London, and captured the charm of the countryside and managed to stay unspoiled by urbanisation. The architecture in Welwyn has been described as pleasant, and the residential cottages with their wide roads and open spaces make Welwyn a refreshing picture when compared to London of the time. After 10 years of existence Welwyn had a population of 10,000, with well-established residential, industrial and commercial zones. In 1930 the health of Welwyn inhabitants was considered greater than those living in London, as Welwyn recorded lower death rates and infant mortality rates. The increased health in Welwyn was understood to be due to the principles of the Garden City.It could be argued that Welwyn fell short of Howard's ideals, Howard wanted investors to invest for the sake of philanthropy, but investors wanted returns and local democracy failed with an exclusive government group formed. Finally, Welwyn was marketed as a middle class commuter suburb, entirely disrespecting the garden city ideals of a self-reliant city.

The town is laid out along tree-lined boulevards with aneo-Georgiantown centre.It has its own environmental protection legislation, the Scheme of Management for Welwyn Garden City. Every road has a wide grass verge. The spine of the town is Parkway, a central mall or scenic parkway, almost a mile long. The view along Parkway to the south was once described as one of the world's finest urban vistas.Older houses are on the west side of Parkway and newer houses on the east side

Most people move to Welwyn Garden City because they like it but very few realize why they like it. The reason is very much down to the vision of one man, Ebenezer Howard, and its interpretation and realization by a young French Canadian architect, Louis de Soissons.The ideas for the garden city grew up during the late 19thcentury and were based around the idea that densely built-up towns and the countryside both had advantages and disadvantages. Howards idea (he was founder of the garden city movement) was to combine the advantages of both in a pleasant, co-operative egalitarian environment. One of the key themes of the garden city ideal was self-containment: providing jobs, services, leisure facilities and housing all within one town in a high quality, green and open setting. This has some parallels with modern ideas about sustainable development in the sense that providing a mixture of land uses in close proximity reduces the need to travel.Louis de Soissons chose a red brick Neo-Georgian style for his building design and was keen to conserve as many hedgerows and trees as possible, exploiting the landscape to its fullest extent. But he truly excelled as a street designer and there is no doubt that his finished plan is a masterpiece of town planning. It is still regarded so some ninety years later. In planning terms its significance is global. It is featured in most probably all -university architectural and urban design courses around the world.Welwyn Garden City was designated as a New Town shortly after the end of World War II and the fact that its original designer, Louis de Soissons, was in charge of its development from its inception until his death in 1962, was able to maintain its unique status.Architecturally, although much of Welwyn Garden City is Neo-Georgian, it is a very simple, pared down Neo-Georgian version, free of too many features and, therefore, eminently suitable for the twentieth century. Although Neo-Georgian revival architecture was not uncommon elsewhere during the 1920s and 30s, the planned, singularly controlled concentration here is unique. On the whole, individual buildings of all styles, public and private, form a collection of the finest domestic architecture of the early twentieth century that is of the highest significance, defining the character of the garden city and vital to its integrity.Ebenezer Howards vision of a Garden City was one that would combine the benefits of living in a town with those of living in the country. It would be a place in which people would both live and work in beautiful surroundings; in a city that would be not only a city in a garden, but also a city of gardens: an example of good civic design and architectural harmony.

The town is now very much bigger, and many residents commute to London and elsewhere. These and other social changes,particularly the car becoming the main means of transport and the growth of supermarkets, chain stores and multi-national industrial combines, mean that Ebenezer Howards original vision has had to adaptto the demands of modern living.The use of space is generous by modern day standards, there are large verges between roadway and pavements. Trees are planted in abundance; there are both grand vistas in the formal part of the town that give way, seemingly effortlessly, to intimate domestic architecture. The latter representing one of the finest collections of English domestic architecture of the early 20thcentury.

COLONEL LIGHT GARDENS,ADELAIDE,AUSTRALIA

Colonel Light Gardensis a model garden suburb, featuring wide, tree-lined streets, well-maintained homes, rounded street corners, and lots of manicured, well maintained open space, located within theCity of Mitchamin the greater City ofAdelaide, capital ofSouth Australia. The area is 1.58km.It containsColonel Light Gardens Primary School, theColonel Light Gardens RSL, a number of sporting clubs using the name Reade Park, and a multitude of historical parks and gardens. It also contains many paved and unpaved laneways, alleyways and bike tracks, most of which do not appear on maps.

CLG town was a State Government sponsored garden city development when most developments were usually private ventures. The suburb came into being for a specific reason, to lay out a model suburb on the latest and most approved methods of subdivision.Charles Reade, an enthusiastic supporter of the garden city idea was employed by the South Australian Government to design the States first model garden suburb.

In 1917 Reade began preparing schematic designs for what was becoming known as the Mitcham Garden Suburb. The suburb was planned to have a radically different appearance to a typical suburb of the time with buildings set in a planned environment; planned locations for public buildings; and an abundance of parks, gardens and wide verges set beside curved roads, rather than the usual grid.

In keeping with garden city principles, Reade designed the Mitcham Garden Suburb as a low-density, self-contained residential environment that catered for many residents needs within its boundaries. Using the topography and extant natural features of the 300 acre site, a 10 acre recreation park created a focus and also served as the site for an ornamental lake and formal gardens utilizing the natural drainage of the site. Existing roads determined the entry points to the suburb

Within the suburb, distinct areas were set aside for commercial, administrative, education, religious, recreational and residential land uses. No industrial area was created. Two shopping precincts (one with town hall, theatre and fire station nearby) were allowed for, as well as sites for schools, accommodation for the aged, a convalescent home, a returned soldiers facility comprising a medical institute and a technical institute, and churches.Reade allowed for a mix of recreation places including several large parks, a park which included tennis, lawn bowls and croquet, a childrens playground adjacent to the oval and school, internal reserves placed behind groups of houses on smaller allotments and small parks dotted throughout the suburb.

Unitarian churchRecreation Center-The OvalReade applied the garden city principle of road classification to his design rather than the usual road width, which was a standard 66 feet, or one surveyors chain. The suburbs roads varied in width, their width determined by the amount of traffic they would carry and their importance in the design scheme. Road widths varied in the suburb from 42 feet to 66 feet in residential areas, from between 66 and 80 feet for roads with shopping zones and other public facilities. The thoroughfare to the major aesthetic feature, the central square, was 99 feet wide.

VICTORIA SQUARE,ADELAIDEThe line of the roads was varied with curves and crescents where practical and long straight stretches avoided. Buildings were set back from the streets to ensure that adequate garden plots could be developed in front of houses. At corners, buildings were placed to avoid blank walls and ensure visibility for drivers. Rear lanes, in which the services were located, were provided behind the residential allotments.Reade allowed for housing all social groups, and in line with garden city principles, aimed to design a site-specific Australian garden suburb, reflecting the desire for single storey houses on one allotment for one family. The building density was planned to be low (eventually three houses per acre) with each house available for freehold purchase. Larger allotments were planned, dotted throughout the suburb for the more affluent and a complex for elderly residents, facilities for returned servicemen and a hostel for single men were also proposed.

WHY EBENZER FAILED?He failed to gain the attention of political and sociological experts because of his limited knowledge in the field in which he was to make such a distingished contribution.