The Garden Town Movement: A Solution to the Housing Crisis?

This summer, Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, delivered a speech in which he laid out the Government’s long-term plans for housing. An intriguing feature of these plans is the reanimation of a concept over a century old – the garden town.

A Brief History

Garden towns, as defined by the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA), are holistically planned new settlements which enhance the natural environment and offer high-quality affordable housing and locally accessible work in beautiful, healthy, and sociable communities [1]. Examples include Letchworth in North Hertfordshire – the world’s first ever garden town – and perhaps most famously, Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire.

The Garden Town Movement emerged in response to the Industrial Revolution in the 19^th Century. Cities became greatly overcrowded and living conditions plummeted, prompting a radical reimagining of urban planning.

The founder of the Garden Town Movement, Ebenezer Howard, envisaged a ‘joyous union’ of town and country which combined the houses, jobs, and infrastructure of the former with fresh air and green space of the latter.

Today, with housing emerging as a potentially election-defining issue, garden towns are being touted by both major parties as a solution to the UK’s perennial housing crisis.

The Situation Today

The Conservative government have made several attempts to reboot the Garden Town Movement since the mid-2010’s, with plans for numerous garden town projects underway in places such as Harlow, Chelmsford, and Tameside. However, the party is divided on the issue of housing, with many Conservative MPs opposed to the mass housebuilding efforts being pushed by Michael Gove and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

In contrast, Sir Keir Starmer has attempted to convey a more decisive stance from Labour on the issue of housebuilding, promising to build ‘the next generation’ of new towns and to ‘back the builders, not the blockers’ [2]. However, he also faces challenges from within his own party, with a report claiming that a quarter of Labour MPs have opposed the building of affordable houses in their constituencies [3].

The Benefits of Garden Towns

Party politics aside, it is clear to see why garden towns are seen by many as a solution to the housing crisis. First, they are ambitious in scale, generally proposing thousands of new houses. This provides a more effective way of meeting housing targets than smaller developments, which tend to maximise opposition to a minimum number of new homes.

Moreover, garden town projects tend to include millions of pounds worth of funding for new infrastructure. By building new schools, hospitals and roads, garden towns can satisfy the needs of new residents without placing additional pressure on existing infrastructure. Finally, garden towns can provide a more sustainable and environmentally friendly way of living by creating transport networks that favour walking, cycling and public transport. The country’s first sustainable transport corridor is being introduced as part of the Harlow and Gilston Garden Town project, which will provide rapid bus services as well as new walking and cycling routes, therefore reducing car dependency.

The original vision of the Garden Town Movement – to combine the best aspects of urban and rural life – has retained its appeal for over a century, and with the desperate need for housing and a transition to a more sustainable way of living, garden towns will undoubtedly be a feature of the planning landscape for years to come.

The Importance of Engagement

Vital to delivering such ambitious projects is not only design but also engagement. Garden town projects are ultimately about communities – they create settlements where people will build their lives, and doing this requires knowledge of how people want to live. Therefore, engagement is necessary to inform the final design of the project in a way that will optimise the welfare of future residents.

At ECF, we are working in collaboration with five Council’s to deliver the Harlow and Gilston Garden Town, which will provide 23,000 homes as well as new jobs, new schools, and new bus and cycling transport routes. Our role has involved facilitating workshops and assisting in the design of the Discover Harlow Hub where residents can come to find out more about the garden town project.

If you would like further information on how ECF can support you in better understanding the needs of the communities you are working in, contact the team at info@engagecf.co.uk

Workshop with HGGT and Harlow Council representatives facilitated by ECF

[1] ‘Garden City Principles’, TCPA, 2023.

[2] ‘Keir Starmer promises to build new towns and 1.5m homes’, BBC, October 2023.

[3] ‘Quarter of Labour MPs have opposed new affordable homes in their areas’, Planning Resource, November 2023.