Introduction to Planned Urban Development

Abstract

This book is about planned urban development. It considers and reflects upon the programme of planned urban expansion that took place in England between the early 1950s and late 1970s. In a period of rapidly rising population and urban renewal, the Town Development Act (1952) empowered conurbation authorities and those in smaller towns to negotiate programmes for the planned expansion of the latter to accommodate overspill populations from the former. This rather obscure and almost forgotten legislation had a significant effect upon the pattern of urban development in this country and a study of its implementation and contribution may yet offer important lessons in tackling today’s urban planning agenda. The population of most western European countries is expected to grow substantially in the coming years. According to the European Union the population of the United Kingdom (UK) is projected to grow by 10.3 per cent between 2015 and 2030, Ireland by 11.2 per cent, France by 6.2 per cent and the Netherlands by 8.8 per cent. Even Germany, where population has stagnated for so long, is likely to see growth of 4.2 per cent (Eurostat, 2019). In total the population of these countries is projected to grow by around 17 million people over the period. At an assumed average household size of 2.3 pph (persons per household) this equates to a need for an additional 7.4 million dwellings, including perhaps as many as 2.8 million in the UK. The question arises: where and in what form should these dwellings be built? The conventional wisdom of sustainable urban development has long called for more compact cities and an increase in urban densities. There are strong reasons to support this view: European economies and societies are increasingly urban and compact cities can reduce the demand for travel and energy use and limit urban sprawl. On the other hand, it is important to maintain decent and healthy living conditions and humane urban environments. There is growing evidence to suggest that in many cities pressures to increase the number and density of dwellings has led to some disregard for housing standards and the quality of the urban environment. Many, including the Town and Country Planning Association, have argued strongly for an alternative and better planned approach to the problem based around the concept of garden cities and new towns (Henderson et al., 2017). Indeed, since the Coronavirus