Ebenezer Howard and the Garden City

Garden City - 1

"An estate of 6,000 acres was to be bought and held in trust for the people of Garden City. A town was to be built near the centre of the estate to occupy about 1,000 acres. In the centre was to be a park in which were placed the public buildings, and around the park a great arcade containing shops, etc. The population of the town was to be 30,000. The building plots were to be of an average size of 10 by 130 feet. There were to be common gardens and cooperative kitchens. On the outer ring of the town there were to be factories, warehouses, etc., fronting on a circular railway. The agricultural estate of 5,000 acres was to be properly developed for agricultural purposes as part of the scheme, and the population of this belt was taken at 2,000." (Ebenezer Howard quoted by MacFadyen p. 28)

"Running all around the Central Park is a wide glass Arcade or Crystal Palace. This building is in wet weather one of the favorite resorts of the people; for the knowledge that its bright shelter is close at hand will tempt people into the park even in the most doubtful of weathers. Here manufactured goods are exposed for sale, and here most of the shopping which requires the job of deliberation and selection is done. The space is however a good deal larger than is required for these purposes, and a considerable part of it is used as a winter garden, and the whole forms a permanent exhibition of a most attractive character - the furthest inhabitant being within 600 yards." (Ebenezer Howard quoted in Sociable Cities p. 21)

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