Essay about Ebenezer Howard and The Garden City Movement

Ebenezer Howard and The Garden City Movement Many would say that Ebenezer Howard (1850-1928) is the most important figure in the whole history of town-planning. He was born in London, but grew up in small English towns like Sudbury and Ipswich. At 21 he emigrated to America and tried to farm in Nebraska, but this was a failure. From 1872 – 1876 he was in Chicago, where he became a shorthand writer. Chicago suffered a great fire in 1871, after which there was much rebuilding. It was known as the Garden City. It seems probable that he would have seen Frederick Law Olmsted’s garden suburb of Riverside being built outside the city. The Penguin Dictionary says that during his stay in America he†¦show more content†¦Town:  · Advantages – social opportunity, employment, high wages, amusements.  · Disadvantages – foul air, high rents, slums, murky skies. Country:  · Advantages – beauty of nature, bright sunshine, abundance of water, fresh air.  · Disadvantages – lack of society, long hours, low wages, lack of amusements. Town Country:  · Advantages - beauty of nature, social opportunity, high wages, low rents, bright homes and gardens, no smoke, no slums etc. The idea was that a group of people should establish a limited-dividend company which would borrow money to buy land outside the city at rock-bottom, depressed agricultural prices. The new city would have a fixed population limit – 32,000 people living on 1,000 acres of land, and it would be surrounded by 5,000 acres of green belt. Howard also elaborated a polycentric vision – the Social City, in which a number of Garden Cities could be linked by inter-municipal railways and highroads. It must be stressed that these Garden Cities were not to be regarded as commuter settlements for a larger city. The idea was that each would be self contained in terms of housing, employment and essential amenities. Indeed, part of the vision was that as people moved out of existing conurbations, conditionsShow MoreRelatedGarden City And Garden City1344 Words   |  6 Pagesof population, increasing urbanization and industrialization, cities had been overcrowded and the environment was being destroyed as well. Furthermore, more and more people moved to the urban cities from rural area for having more job opportunities. Consequently, cities were over centralizing. It is contributed to the slums in city which is the cause of disease breaking out. It leads to the decrease of human’s life quality in urban cities. Mo udon (1997) points out that control by the private sectorRead MoreEvolution Of The Garden City Movement1777 Words   |  8 PagesTHE EVOLUTION OF THE GARDEN CITY MOVEMENT AND ITS HISTORICAL INFLUENCE INTRODUCTION The garden city movement, a method of urban planning that was initiated in 1898 by Sir Ebenezer Howard, had a significant influence on urban planning. The theory of urban planning has envolved over the past hundred years, some have attempted to emulate theories from the garden city movement, while others have been revised based on Howard’s original ideas. The Garden City concept spawned many ideas of urban planningRead MoreThe City Beautiful Movement : The Urban Planning Practices And Concepts Employed Today And The Foreseeable Future1322 Words   |  6 PagesQuestion 1: In the first half of the 20th century urban planning was greatly influenced by the visionary and utopian ideas coming out of the City Beautiful movement. 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Where streets are chaotic and gridlocked and citizens are stuffed in cramped, dirty and unsanitary apartments. This was the world of 19th-century cities where human health and happiness were disregarded for economic gain. These horrid conditions shaped the lives and ideas of three very influential men: Ebenezer Howard, Le Corbusier, and Frank Lloyd Wright. They took their own experiencesRead MoreEssay On Garden City1609 Words   |  7 PagesGarden City (Background and concept) According to Garden Cities of To-morrow (Howard 1902), during 19th due to industrialization, London was the capitalist financial central city. Therefore, more and more people were moving to urban city from rural areas. Howard (1902) points out that there are 35% of population living in English agricultural districts are over 60 years old. Consequently, cities became over centralizing and rural areas became degenerated which also brings the negative impact to theRead MoreEbenezer Howard And The Garden City1714 Words   |  7 PagesEbenezer Howard designed a basic plan of his ideal community, called the Garden City between 1889 and 1892. The main idea of his ideal city was a centralised urban centre housing approximately 30,000 inhabitants with a â€Å"green belt† or rural area consisting of farms and parks surrounding it. Instead of envisaging a massive town centre with dense and crowded living, Howard perceived that the major cities of the time would shrink as people spread out and moved away from them. Therefore the urban populationRead MoreTransit Oriented Development ( Tod ) Essay1221 Words   |  5 PagesDevelopment (TOD) began as a counter-movement to urban sprawl and it’s economic, social, and environmental impacts by moving more towards the garden city movement of the 19th century be designating areas for specific land use, while also, employing the design of multiuse buildings. By looking at the greater Phoenix Metropolitan Area there is a need to accommodate for future cities by employing community and regional design concepts. Content The future of living is cities. Somehow the ancients understoodRead MoreDepartment Of Urban And Regional Planning740 Words   |  3 Pagesthat Ambler Realty rights were violated because the land was purchased prior to the zoning ordinance being put in place. Fogelsong touched on â€Å"parks and planning† in his book, why is this a significant movement in the housing reform, the history of planning, and capitalism? The movement of parks and planning was important in the housing reform because it benefited the wealthy class and the working class. It gave the working class a chance to move into areas that would not be relatively availble