Cities of Tomorrow by Eamon Dimasi

Urban planning, whilst present in some cities prior to the 20^th century, wasn’t really prominent the world over until the 1900s (Ward, 2002). Before this time, planning was achieved by a combination of three main professions - architects, public health officials, and social workers. By 1898, in the USA, these professions came together in response to the industrial revolution, which caused a need for more thoughtful, organised planning, as cities expanded. Furthermore, Harvard University established the first urban planning school in the country around the same time, and thus, in the USA at least, urban planning as a profession was born (Erickson, 2012).

Closer to home, Melbourne was one of the fastest growing cities in the world during the late 19^th century, and was home to some of the world’s most expensive real estate (Nichols, 2015). As a result, urban planning became more common. The most famous Australian example of 20^th century urban planning is the capital city of Canberra, however this is obviously not the only such case. Haberfield, in Sydney, was one of the earliest planned towns in Australia, and the garden suburb of Daceyville, in New South Wales is another example of a master-planned community that was established during the 20^th century (Ward, 2002; NSW Government, 2014).

Daceyville came about to the overcrowded and unsanitary state of Sydney in the early 20^th century. Colonial Secretary at the time, John Rowland Dacey, subsequently wanted to create a more pleasant suburb, with wider, open green spaces and gardens (NSW Government, 2014). As a result, Daceyville was established, with over 300 houses in the garden suburb by 1920. Similarly to Canberra, several competitions were also held involving the designing of gardens within the suburb (NSW Government, 2014).

Figure 1: Daceyville Garden Suburb design

(retrieved from: http://nswanzaccentenary.records.nsw.gov.au/index.php/on-the-homefront/daceyville-the-garden-suburb/) 

Government sectors were a large component of this rapid growth, unlike in certain other countries, and as a result, corruption often proved to be present in land development (Nichols, 2015). Throughout the growth of Greater Melbourne, there have been certain developments in previously ‘untouchable’ green wedges that are owned by donors to the government, which obviously arouses suspicion.

Even today, allegations of corruption within the field of planning are still present. Just recently, in Newcastle, New South Wales, there was an inquiry into allegations that members of parliament had received ‘donations’ from planners who were working on a railway development in the area. While ultimately these allegations were found to have no substantial evidence behind them, many residents and politicians still believe that government sectors are too closely connected and easily influenced by private developers (Gerarthy, 2015).

As mentioned above, the overcrowded and unsanitary nature of cities led to certain planning decisions, and another development which came about because of these undesirable attributes was that of the public parks movement (Jordan, 1994). The poor health that resulted from crowded streets, with people constantly in contact with each other, led urban residents to appreciate open, green spaces, with the expectation that the parks would bring with them better health, as well as helping the people who visited them to become more cultured (Nichols, 2015). Unusually for this time, these parks were accessible to all people, regardless of class.

Another reaction to the extensive growth of cities and the subsequent health issues that came with it was the cemetery movement (Nichols, 2015). Before this growth, corpses were either not buried at all, which obviously created substantial health issues, or were buried on church grounds (Nichols, 2015; Finney, 2012). However, as population increased, church grounds could no longer accommodate the large number of bodies and instead, cemeteries were developed.

Interestingly, these cemeteries were not only designed for sanitary and sentimental reasons, but also as a pleasant place to visit. It has been noted that families would go to cemeteries for picnics, or that people would take walks through cemeteries to appreciate the beauty and peacefulness, something that is not so common today (Finney, 2012). Often park planners within the USA were prominent in the designing of cemeteries, because the two were so interrelated. In fact, in his journal article The “Rural” Cemetery Movement: Urban Travail and the Appeal of Nature, Thomas Bender states “cemeteries were…designed for both the living and the dead” (Bender, 1974).

The idea of these more pleasure, open, green spaces was further expanded upon by a very important figure in urban planning throughout the 20^th century - Ebenezer Howard, who pioneered the idea of the Garden City. Howard’s vision of the Garden City - an idyllic, attractive and user-friendly city, which would forever discourage people from wanting to live in ‘standard’ urban centres, first came to life in the form of Letchworth in 1903 (Ward, 2002). Howard believed that towns should be ‘limited in size…and self sufficient’, making them more comfortable and convenient to live in than bigger cities, such as London, for example (Smith, 2007).

Figure 2: Ebenezer Howard’s Garden City

(retrieved from: http://www.myoops.org/ans7870/11/11.001j/f01/lectureimages/6/06003.JPG)

Unfortunately for Howard, this vision was challenged when social reformers instead began to extend existing cities, rather than create new ones. One of the original, and arguably the most famous example of this is that of Hampstead Heath (Nichols, 2015). Henrietta Barnett, a social reformist who lived in Hampstead Heath, collaborated with Barry Parker and Raymond Unwin to create the ‘garden suburb’ – an attractive residential area which suddenly made London a great place to live, rendering the idea of the garden city almost obsolete (Smith, 2007). Perhaps this is one of the reasons why cities like Melbourne or London still remain popular today.

It is therefore evident that the 20^th century was a truly productive time for urban planning, and one in which the profession of planning started to become recognised all over the world. As a result of the work done throughout this century, we now has several great pioneers and precedents from which we can learn and build on, such as Ebenezer Howard and his Garden City. During this time, planning became revolutionised and it is because of this era that planning is as important as it is today, and can therefore be improved upon for the future so the best possible outcome can be achieved.

Bibliography

Bender, T. (1974) ‘The “Rural” Cemetery Movement: Urban Travail and the Appeal of Nature’, The New England Quarterly, 47(2) pp. 196-211.

Erickson, A. (2012) ‘A Brief History of the Birth of Urban Planning’. CityLab. Available at: http://www.citylab.com/work/2012/08/brief-history-birth-urban-planning/2365/ (Accessed: 16 April 2015).

Finney, P.J. (2012) ‘Landscape Architecture and the “Rural” Cemetery Movement’, Focus on Global Resources, 31(4)

Gerarthy, S. (2015) No evidence of corruption in Newcastle planning decisions, inquiry finds. ABC News. Available at: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-03/no-evidence-of-corruption-in-newcastle-planning-decisions/6276546 (Accessed: 16 April 2015).

Jordan, H. (1994) ‘Public Parks, 1885-1914’, Garden History, 22(1) pp.85-113

Nichols, D. (2015). Urban History Lecture Eleven: Cities of Tomorrow: the rise of town planning [Power Point slides] Retrieved from: https://app.lms.unimelb.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-4774739-dt-content-rid-16780631_2/courses/ABPL20034_2015_SM1/urban%20history%20cities%20of%20tomorrow%202015.pdf

NSW Government (2014). ‘Daceyville - the Garden Suburb’. New South Wales Anzac Centenary - State Records NSW. Available at: http://nswanzaccentenary.records.nsw.gov.au/index.php/on-the-homefront/daceyville-the-garden-suburb (Accessed: 16 April 2015).

Smith, M. K. (2007) ‘Henrietta Barnett, social reform and community building’. infed.org. Available at: http://infed.org/mobi/henrietta-barnett-social-reform-and-community-building (Accessed: 16 April 2015).

Stephen V. Ward (2002) ‘The Emergence of Modern Planning’ in Planning the Twentieth Century. Chichester, John Wiley, pp. 45-80