GARDEN CITIES.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 17451, 11 May 1922, Page 12

GARDEN CITIES.

i * ■ v. <. 'CONFERENCE OF<IttI£RNATIONAL '. %/ASSOCIATION.

I • iS6 STATUS KEPBE SENTED.,

' , «'• , V • V/ OWN OOBHESPONDKNT'.) J '• , •;*" .I ' iiOiifDON, Uarth'u. ■■■■••,;*: At the conference organised by tho .International' Golden Cities and Town Planning Association, 36 countries, were "represented: Mr Ebenesser Howard ; .((president of the.'Association) welcomed / 1 , the delegates. deferring to Belgium, > ; rft'jjosei 60 representatives included the .beads'of societies" dealing with housing, * - .'members of •; i i tUliainent > ( a number of ■, Mayorßi' 'and otlH)r civic , authorities, arcurtects, -bnijderßj editorß, and mpm- ■ / .liers of leamed societies, Mr Howard r 'saidvthe-'-way' in- wiichvtihey had met : 'tll4ir,' difficultifes : ,arid the re-planning and- rehousing 'winch Bad been coined ; in 'the devastated area'a ' under' M. Wiighen, reflect-ed-*great credit on the Government,. >: ' -the municipalities, and the national and; •local public utility Eraieties. In J) ranee :■ : also much good, work had been carried - . • out in tho devastated; areas while the; . 'mbveruent had bcen much aided by the sjicjqesstul 1 . efforts made t ßy .Messrs fciel-; lierond Bruggemann. /.-in India,, much good town-planning; 'wtirk had) been; done by ( both British i fedd: Indian town planners, notably by Prpfesaor Geddes. In Cmna and Japan: :■ ■ r" qlsb'tbe - garden' city movement was making headway.- . -'iho work carried dijiidiiring'the past few years in the United .States had been very encouraging to the -v.movement all over the 7 .sqrl{l.\ In the great Overseas Do- * v miaioxift. the movement was growing htid on Great' Bjri-} f taiif/nltliougn "they'-had "had a'cMack' ' " to ""the; Very' ambitious 'building pro'gFumgie^of" tyo Government, many ex- ■ <■s .cvflen,t. schemed had been carried out. Iho r greatest-, achievement of the 'last had fceen the-developmeiit of. the Wettvya Garden. City. -A very important* part of, tfas work was the n'u- ' ''meroys siirveys tha,o had been made, : attdwere being made',' in diffeient'parts •. the country,-xotably-at/Shelfield and in-.:fihe- South .Vales coalfields. • Sellier (Paris), said the' ideals of •ygat&en . cities and suburbs' had made gieat prpgiesa in I'rjuice, although unv 'fortunately he thought. practical results had not gone very, far. Comport - Aug .tho amount ot toonoy spent on , * ! hoasb|f <in England with tho- -small ; v amount , the .French Government could .aljow,. hfc thought the English had - .'hide.-to complain :of.' .:■*■ - ■ ( i 'Mrs E'■ Wood (UJS.A.) stated 1 . in America a .committee ihad been' " v ,v. formed to' standardise building laws. At there were as many different -. * laws ii» the cities of the ? yWuted States as there were cities large W*S?S?Bh to h&v« building laws. Grerloft. (Norway) spoke of the opinion in Norway in con■■'.with- tttwn-planmng, and Dr. (Czecho-Slovakia) said that of. the present year boroughs and townships j ilcorporated'' with the' capital to form Greater Prague. Tens Qf, houbea - would have to the-country to make up the HJ/ Caused byithe wati "Their w a..

Most Bematkable'Gathering.' j ; Lord Robert ;Cfcil described "the aspembly as the most remarkable gathering on housing that had ever 1 taken place. There were representatives even of Hawaii and Latvia. He had a right to feel A Bpcdial and personal interest in it, as he represented the Garden City of . Letuhworth, which, wap 'regarded as the Mecca of the movement. All over- the world they were > tahiing of the of Europe. It-was one of the most pressing needs■> ot the present day, both moral and material.' -On its material side nothing] more literally, .^answered. to. the term, I "ltecpnstructio'n" than replacing the houses which had been destroyed or> the deficiency m biUlding in the, last; years of ; war, Tlieri 'was a great demand for' the State to come. to the assistance of those who could' not satisfy the want, and great housing scbemes had sprung up. It was important that they should have a great national association to guide, these efforts. That day they had' iS6 'nations repre-, seated and the delegates felt they had cume : together in the interests' Ot all; nations, that they ..might best serve each other by bringing to Che common stock the r: kiiowledge of each one of them. ; International co-operation was a vital ne ( cessity of humanity. Speaking of the League of Nations, Lord Robert said that without peace, friendship, smd disarmament the life of the nations could not' go on, and regarded .the housing confernece as an example of what international co-operation "could do. - Senator ; Vinck (vice-president of the Association, and 'president of >'the- Housing . Association of Belgium) said ; that two " years ago there were a; dozen countries in: the Associatinn; now' there were sixty-four. They were trying to do their best ongarden suburb lines, not garden cities. They were not erecting palaces or tri-umphal-arches, but only houses for Working people. They were going back to' simplicity and to Nature. It was a victory of man over the failures of the I9th;,contnry, .. and it was a v victorious "movement,.because, nb one: woiild. bo ex-' eluded from the fniits of victory. Need of Propaganda. In a paper on "How to , Get Garden Cities established throughout-, the. World," _ Mr C. 'B. '. the, garden-city movement was • different trom : . all other movements for ' the" improvement of cities and ; the reyiial of .rural -life, in .that it rested' upon the conception of a new .form' of town structure, with a definite- economic basis; Tlie garden city was a town, not a village or a suburb or a housing- scheme. " It functioned as a -social. _ the economic foundation of which was coni tirol of. its own land values. To" enable gardrtv cities to be built & public opinion must exist that ~ was sufficiently powerful to'overcome the "vis inertia" that, existed in every society. Without that public opinion nothing could / be done. Therefore, propaganda was the first step. The' formation of a garden, city group-in every Country to support the idea, to' make known its meaning, and to examine its applications to particular local conditions, was undoubtedly; required. At: present there were people in. every, country of the world who were interested the garden city : movement;, but hardly' anywhere out- 1 side England (and before the war, in. Germany) was there an organisation giving specific, support to the garden ctty idea., s An example of a garden city needed to be provided. , Propaganda without - an. actual 'experiment would be: in important, if. the example was

I to have> any value that ai .true gardfen ' city should be aimed at. -It'shouid be a town, large enough to have, dll; taw features of a town . characteristic of" the country in which it tvas placed. It should provide fob, all,classed, 6f community, so that it might possess a sound civic being, it should, provide for industry to be carried .on;,, o It should be panned as a ! combine rural interests. with- Urban- interests. Finally, it should control i the. whole of' the land, upon „w;hich { ' it was built and surrounding { it.- V |' • Conunercially PractteaWe.-; ,;. Summarising the most ' imjiortaht ' -steps which it- would be. necessary, take,to bring the Garden;Cities. ; into being through the. world, Mr, Purdom said: ''Public opinion on; the subject must be created by the forrfliitioil of 'societies to'stimulate an interest in the 'movement, and by enlisting the J'stipport of prominent men' of &nd the powerful aid of the Press. \ "llife , subject should be handled-ih*a. mariner .to secure the rsupport of all political .par- ' ties;. It must. bo stated .publicly and •continuously that it is not only.\dosirr •able'that garden cities should,-be built but thaf they are'"also ' cbulnieVcially practicable and 'economically iustifiefd. It will' be advantageous to obtain' legislation not only on account v of. the ,'ma-i terial assistance which such v legislation: may afford, but also for the j prestijge , which legislative recognition, will Scarry., with it. Substantial credits qre : »ary to the development of a garden city and the interests of banks arid financial houses and we'althy' men should be solicited and secured. , The ! State can., render considerable., ,aesi*st- ;i ance through the medium of loans,, but; it is desirable that such . assistance 5 should not be relied upon ais the 1 sole,: soUroe of financial support. " The-" sys T -; tem rebently introduced in Englahd'. by which the State is prepared ,to grnpt. .loans", for the development ~of gardencities on the -basis of an equal sum of capital being fohnd from ather sourcei is good, in that it encourages the . -investment of private - capital, and this ' private .capital may be accompanied 'by considerable influence and eilergy.' The I immediate future of. the .garden city j , movement in any country will 'depend to a large extent on the way in whicn the first: city, is developed, and iSiel'ihan-l ner in which, its finance is handled! It: is impossible to exaggerate the. import-' ance of the first garden city as a propagandist instrument if the scheme is: well. out, but it' has also to beborne in mind that • the failure of ' the! ; first scheme may set > hack - the •' move-j'ment-for a generation.""" : \ I -On the final day of the Conference, the delegates went to Welwjn'Gardehi !City. where they .were entertained '.st. luncheon at the Co-operative ; Stores restaurant. Later a discussion took place on the reduction -of • building costs. Tours were „also arranged'- ; fb'r : ;' [the two days following "tjie'delegates paying a visit', to. Letchworth on one day and to tho, varioiis', housing schemes in and about London : on the second day.' ; t ;