Sir Ebenezer Howard

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Howard, Sir Ebenezer (1850–1928). English begetter of the Garden City movement. Inspired by Edward Bellamy's (1850–98) Utopian book Looking Backward 2000–1887 (1888) which prophesied a transformation of society in an industrial age made possible by co-operative ventures, he wrote To-morrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform (1898), later republished as Garden Cities of Tomorrow (1902). Howard envisaged curing the ills of densely packed urban living and rural decline by merging the best of town and country into Garden Cities of limited size. His ideas were taken up, and the Garden City Association was formed in 1899 which led to the creation of Letchworth Garden City, Herts. (from 1903), and the second experiment, Welwyn Garden City, also in Herts. (from 1919). Low densities, separation of housing and industries, and the provision of all amenities were essential ingredients. Howard's ideas led to the New Town policy adopted in Britain after the 1939–45 war, and had influence earlier elsewhere, notably in France, Germany, and the USA.

Bibliography

Beevers (1988);
Bellamy (1967);
Fishman (1977);
P. Hall & and C. Ward (1998);
E. Howard (1898, 1902, 1946, 1965);
LeGates & Stout (eds.) (1996);
MacFadyen (1970);
Me. Miller (1992);
Miller & and Gray (1992);
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004);
Parsons & D. Schuyler (eds.) (2002)

Sir Ebenezer Howard 1850–1928, English town planner, principal founder of the English garden-city movement. His To-morrow: a Peaceful Path to Real Reform (1898), reissued as Garden Cities of To-morrow (1902), outlined a model self-sustaining town that would combine town conveniences and industries with the advantages of an agricultural location. As a result of the first publication he was able to form (1899) the Garden City Association, and, in 1903 Letchworth, the first English garden city, was founded. In 1920 he organized Welwyn Garden City.

Bibliography: See D. Macfadyen, Sir Ebenezer Howard and the Town Planning Movement (1933).