The Art of Building a Garden City

Book excerpt: The concept of the Garden City is perhaps the most radical and relevant legacy of British town planning and the utopian tradition. Its pioneers aspired to provide a blend of environmental sustainability, social inclusion and steely economics; a new kind of mutualised community with the highest standards of design accessible to all and profits of rising land values shared for the benefit of everyone. With the nation now facing an acute housing crisis, these principles are more relevant than ever. The Art of Building a Garden City is a well-researched guide to the history of the garden city movement and the delivery of a new generation of communities for the 21st Century. Bringing together key findings from the TCPA's campaign work, and drawing on lessons from the first garden cities, the new towns programme and other large-scale developments, it identifies what steps need to be taken in order to deliver the highest standards of design and placemaking today. Heavily illustrated with photos and case studies, this book is essential reading for anyone involved in planning, designing or delivering new, garden city-inspired communities at a range of scales.