GERMANTOWN PLANNING

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume I, Issue 190, 29 July 1911, Page 7

GERMANTOWN PLANNING

The Hon. J. McGowen. Premier of New South Wales, probably saw something of German town planning on his recent visit to t he Krupp works at Essen. The Krupp firm shine out over all German employers for their housing schemes, aimed at giving good homes to their workers. Twelve thousand families are housed, with 46,000 people, and these are placed in villages--which are called “colonics.” In the various schemes there are -'ertam prominent features: (I) there is an insistence upon the separate house, as dist inct from the tenement ; (2) the plan is made in advance ; (3) models ate prepared, upon the planning architect’s scheme, which show what the village or colony will be down to the minutest detail of the houses, gardens, streets, etc. ; (4) the corporations of the various cities are interested in the garden plans, either through voting funds or supplying land on lease at 2 per cent, of its estimated value. It is interesting to know that most of the German garden villages are copies of English models, and it is satisfactory to our national pride to remember that such model villages as Bourneville, near Birmingham, gave the inspiration to Germany. It is to be sincerely hoped that New Zealand will have legislative sanction for similar experiments in planning and housing.