The Garden City Utopia: A Critical Biography of Ebenezer Howard: 1988

Ebenezer Howard is recognised as a pioneer of town planning throughout the industrialised world; Britain's new towns, deriving from the garden cities he founded, are his monument. But Howard was more than a town planner. He was first and foremost a social reformer, and his garden city was intended to be merely the first step towards a new social and industrial order based on common ownership of land. This is the first comprehensive study of Howard's theories, which the author traces back to their origins in English puritan dissent and forward to Howard's attempt to build his new society in microcosm at Letchworth and Welwyn. Front Matter....Pages i-xi The Young Ebenezer....Pages 1-8 The Dissenter....Pages 9-24 Commonsense Socialism....Pages 25-39 From Unionville to Garden City....Pages 40-54 A Unique Combination of Proposals....Pages 55-67 The Evangelist and the Sceptic....Pages 68-78 Managing Director....Pages 79-91 The Ideal City Made Practicable....Pages 92-107 Housing a Co-operative Community....Pages 108-117 The Spirit of the Place....Pages 118-132 The Path Followed Up....Pages 133-144 A Hundred New Towns....Pages 145-157 Second Garden City....Pages 158-167 A Heroic Simpleton?....Pages 168-184 Back Matter....Pages 185-206