Ebenezer Howard

EBENEZER
HOWARD
Sir Ebenezer Howard
(29th January 1850- May 1st,
1928)
AN INTRODUCTION
• Sir Ebenezer Howard was born as the son of a shopkeeper
in the City of London, on 29th of January 1850.
• After schooling, he took on a number of clerical posts.
• In 1871, he emigrated to the frontier country of America to
become a farmer.
• He subsequently spent four years living in Chicago,
witnessing it's rebuilding following the great fire.
• It was during this time, he began to contemplate ways to
improve cities.
GARDEN CITY MOVEMENT
THE ORIGIN AND VISION
• Howard was heavily influenced by the utopian visions of Edward Bellamy and his
publication Looking Backward (1888).
• Sir Ebenezer Howard is known for his publication Garden Cities of
Tomorrow(1898), the description of a utopian city in which people live
harmoniously together with nature.
• The ideas put forth in To-morrow were a synthesis of his personal experiences
and the works of others.
• The publication resulted in the founding of the garden city movement that
realized several Garden Cities in Great Britain at the beginning of the
20thcentury.
• The first garden cities proposed were Letchworth and Welwyn in 1903 and 1920
respectively.
ARISE OF THE PROBLEM
• It is important to understand the context to which Howard’s work was a reaction.
• London (and other cities) in the 19th century were in the throws of industrialization, and the cities were
exerting massive forces on the labour markets of the time.
• Massive immigration from the countryside to the cities was taking place with London.
• This situation was unsustainable and political commentators of all parties sought “how best to provide
the proper antidote against the greatest danger of modern existence”To Howard the cure was simple - to
reintegrate people with the country side.
CURE OF THE PROBLEM

• In trying to understand and represent the attraction of the city he compared each city to a magnet, with
individuals represented as needles drawn to the city.
• He set about comparing the ‘town and country magnets’ but decided that neither were suitable attractors
for his utopian vision.
• Instead he believed that “Human society and the beauty of nature are meant to be enjoyed together” –
hence giving his solution “the two magnets must be made one.”
• "Townand country must be united, and out of this joyous union, will spring a new hope, a new life, a new
civilization."
GARDEN CITIES OF
TOMORROW
This book offered a vision of towns free of slums and
enjoying the benefits of both town (such as opportunity
amusement and good wages) and country (such as
beauty fresh air and low rent). He started the idea with
his famous Three Magnets diagram which addressed the
question Where will the people go? the choices being
Town', 'Country' or 'Town-Country. It proposed the
creation of new suburban towns of limited size, planned
in advance, and surrounded by a permanent belt of
agricultural land. These Garden cities were used as the
model for many suburbs. Howard believed that such
Garden Cities were the perfect blend of city and nature.
The towns would be largely Independent managed by the
citizens who had a model economic interest in them,
and financed by ground rents on the Georgist. The land
on which they were to be built was to be owned by a
group of trustees and leased to the citizens.
THE THREE MAGNETS DIAGRAM
The Three Magnets Diagram

makes three points :
• Town Affairs good and bad
characteristics
• Country life has good and bad
characteristics
• Town-Country life can have all
the good things about in towns
and life in the country without
any of the bad things
THE THREE MAGNETS DIAGRAM
COUNTRY
TOWN POSITIVE NEGATIVE
POSITIVE NEGATIVE
• Beauty of Nature. • Lack of Society.
• Land lying idle. • Hands out of
• Social • Closing out of • Wood, meadows Work.
opportunity. nature. and forests. • Tresspassers.
• Isolation of • High rents and • Fresh air. • Low wages.
crowds. prices. • Low rents. • Lack of drainage.
• Places of • Foul air and • Abundance of • Lack of
amusement. murky sky. water. amusements.
• Chances of • Slums. • Bright sunshine. • No public Spirit.
Employment. • Costly Drainage. • Need for reform.
• High Wages. • Crowded
• Well-lit streets. Dwellings.
• Deserted villages.
TOWN-COUNTRY COMBINATION
OF BOTH ASPECTS
• Beauty of nature- peace all-over the places.
• Social opportunity- cumulative growth.
• Fields and parks of easy access- equal chances.
• Low rents- high wages.
• Low rates- plenty to do. Low prices- no sweating.
• Field for enterprise- flow of capital.
• Pure air and water- good drainage.
• Bright homes & gardens- no smoke, no slums.
• Freedom- Co-operation.
GARDEN CITY
• Term means ‘a city in a garden’ or ‘city of
gardens.’
• By Garden cities and Town Planning Association,
1919 “a garden city is a town designed for
healthy living and industry; of a size that makes
possible a full measure of social life; but not
larger ; surrounded by a rural belt; the whole of
the land being in public ownership or held in in
trust for community.”
GARDEN CITY
1. Garden cities were intended to be planned, self-contained communities surrounded by
"greenbelts", containing proportionate areas of residences, industry, and agriculture.
2. The garden city introduced the use of greenbelts that have served many uses including the
preservation of agricultural and rural life, nature and heritage conservation, recreation,
pollution minimization, and growth management.
3. Garden city tradition endowed urban planning with a social and community dimensions.
4. The garden city idea however, showed how both industrial estates and collective retailing
spaces could be used within a comprehensive planning approach to serve public purposes.
CORE PRINCIPLES OF GARDEN CITY

1. Strong community
2. Ordered development
3. Environmental quality
PRINCIPLES OF GARDEN CITY
1. Co-operatIve holding of land to insure that the advantage of appreciation of land values goes to the
community, not the private individuals.
2. Economic and social advantages of large scale planning.
3. Establishment of cities of limited size, but at the same time possessing a balanced agricultural
industrial economy.
4. Urban decentralisation.
5. Use of a surrounding green belt to serve as an agricultural recreational area.
FEATURES OF GARDEN CITY

• Contains open spaces and gardens around all the dwelling houses and factories
• Has a population which is neither too small nor too large.
• It is a city owned by all citizens on a co-operative basis
• Its is an independent entity having its own civic life and affording all daily needs with adequate
spaces for schools and other functional purposes.
• It is a self sufficient unit having its own industries.
• It is surrounded by periphery by a green belt.
• It need not have the rapid transit arrangement.
• The surplus fund is utilised for the development of the community itself.
The first Garden City evolved
out of Howard’s principles is
Letchworth Garden City
designed by Raymond Unwin
and Barry Parker in 1903.
• The second one to evolve was
Welwyn Garden City designed
by Louis de Soissons and
Frederic Osborn in 1920.
• Another example was
Radburn City designed by
Clarence Stein and Henry
Wright in 1928.
GARDEN CITY
CONCEPTUAL LAYOUT 
• Circular city growing in a radial manner or pattern.

• Divided into six equal wards, by six main Boulevards that radiated from the central park/garden.
• Civic institutions (Town Hall, Library, Hospital, Theatre, Museum etc. ) are placed around the central
garden.
• The central park enclosed by a crystal palace acts as an arcade for
• Distance between each ring vary between 3-5km .
• A 420 feet wide , 3 mile long, Grand avenue which run in the centre of concentric rings , houses the
schools and churches and acts as a continuous public park.
• The streets for houses are formed by a series of concentric ringed tree lined avenues.
• All the industries, factories and warehouses were placed at the peripheral ring of the CITY.
FIGURATIVE GARDEN CITY 
GARDEN CITY DATAS
Central City:
Area: 12000 acres.
Population : 58000 people
Agglomeration Cities:
Area: 9000 acres
Population: 32000 people
• Distance between central main city and the agglomeration: ~10km .
Assumed data-
• A total of 6000 acre estate
• 1000 acres, purely for the central garden city as a home for 30000
people.
• Surrounding the central city 5000 Acres of land is retained for
agriculture and home for 2000 people, with cow pastures, farmlands,
and welfare services.
LETCHWORTH CITY
1. Letchworth was developed and owned by a company called First Garden City, Ltd
which was formed in 1903, based on the ideas of Howard.
2. The Garden City Association collected money from supporters, his supporters tended
to be people who were impressed by the social justice element of the Garden City.
3. The Letchworth estate which was agricultural land, was purchased from 15 individual
owners.
4. The Letchworth estate lies on a train line and is only 35 miles from London.
5. covered 3826 acres. However, more land was purchased and the property increased to
4710 acres.
6. The Letchworth garden city was to sustain a population of
between 30,000 and 35,000 people.
7. Current population is 33249 and it lies in Hertfordshire.
8. There is a central town, agricultural belt, shops, factories,
residences, civic centres and open spaces, this division of land for
specific purposes is now referred to as
9.Some criticisms of Letchworth exist, claims that it is too spacious
and there are few architecturally impressive designs. However, it
can be argued the space is what makes Letchworth pleasant, and
the architecture, while not highly impressive and uniform, has
consistency of colour and is satisfying to the needs of the people.
WELWYN
• Welwyn Garden City is a town within the Borough of Welwyn
Hatfield in Hertfordshire, England.
• It is located approximately 19 miles from Kings Cross and 24 miles
from London.
• On 29 April 1920 a company, Welwyn Garden City Limited, was
formed to plan and build the garden city, chaired by Sir Theodore
Chambers. Louis de Soissons was appointed as architect and town
planner and Frederic Osborn as secretary.
• Land of 2378 acres
• Designed for a maximum of 40000 population.
• In 15 years developed with 10000 population & 50 shops, industries.
• Personalization of Homes in Welwyn with varying roofline, texture
and composition for each house.
• Streets are designed so as to give the concept of a Neighbourhood
unit.
• Separation of the pedestrian walkways from the main roads
gives a sense of natural beauty.
• Open and green spaces are Given on a large scale.

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EBENEZER

CURE OF THE PROBLEM

The Three Magnets Diagram

CORE PRINCIPLES OF GARDEN CITY

FEATURES OF GARDEN CITY

• Circular city growing in a radial manner or pattern.

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