General Observations On British New Town Planning

The typical town springs up around a natural resource such as a river, an ocean, an exceptionally deep harbour or in proximity to a larger, already thriving town. Not so with 'new towns, ' which are created by decree rather than out of necessity and are often intended to break from the tendencies of past development. New towns aren't a new thing but these utopian developments saw a resurgence in the 20th century. Rosemary Wakeman gives us a sweeping view of the new town movement as a global phenomenon, from Tapiola in Finland to Islamabad in Pakistan, Cergy-Pontoise in France to Irvine in California.