- Ebenezer Howard
Sir Ebenezer Howard (
29 January 1850 cite book|title=Penguin Pocket On This Day|publisher=Penguin Reference Library|isbn=0-141-02715-0|year=2006] –May 1 1928 [(1933) [http://www.freeweb.hu/eventoj/steb/gxenerala_naturscienco/enciklopedio-1/encikl-h.htm Enciklopedio de Esperanto] ] ) was a prominent Britishurban planner .Early life
Howard travelled to America from England at the age of 21, moved to
Nebraska , and soon discovered that he was not meant to be afarmer . He moved toChicago and worked as a reporter for the courts and newspapers. In the U.S. he became acquainted with, and admired, poetsWalt Whitman andRalph Waldo Emerson . Howard began to think about ways to improve the quality of life.By 1876 he was back in England, where he found a job with
Hansard , which produces the official record of Parliament, and he spent the rest of his life in this occupation. Direct descendants of Ebenezer Howard include his cricket manager grandson Geoffrey Howard as well as his great great grandson, the pedagogue George Colin Howard and his daughter Leah Elisabeth Howard.Influences and ideas
Howard read widely, including
Edward Bellamy 's 1888 utopian novel "Looking Backward " and thought deeply about social issues.One result was his book (1898) titled [http://www.library.cornell.edu/Reps/DOCS/howard To-Morrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform] , which was reprinted in 1902 as "Garden Cities of To-Morrow". This book offered a vision of towns free of slums and enjoying the benefits of both town (such as opportunity, amusement and high wages) and country (such as beauty, fresh air and low rents). He illustrated the idea with his famous "Three Magnets" diagram (pictured), which addressed the question 'Where will the people go?', the choices being 'Town', 'Country' or 'Town-Country' - the Three Magnets.
It called for the creation of new
suburb an towns of limited size, planned in advance, and surrounded by a permanent belt of agricultural land. These Garden cities were used as a role model for many suburbs. Howard believed that such Garden Cities were the perfect blend of city and nature. The towns would be largely independent, and managed and financed by the citizens who had an economic interest in them.Action
In 1899 he founded the Garden Cities Association, now known as the
Town and Country Planning Association and the oldest environmental charity inEngland .His ideas attracted enough attention and financial backing to begin
Letchworth Garden City , a suburban garden city north ofLondon . A second garden city,Welwyn Garden City , was started afterWorld War I . His contacts with German architectsHermann Muthesius andBruno Taut resulted in the application of humane design principles in many large housing projects built in the Weimar years. Hermann Muthesius also played an important role in the creation of Germany's first garden city ofHellerau in 1909, the only German garden city where Howard's ideas were thoroughly adopted.The creation of Letchworth Garden City and Welwyn Garden City were influential in the development of "New Towns" after
World War II by the British government. This movement produced more than 30 communities, the first beingStevenage ,Hertfordshire (about halfway between Letchworth and Welwyn), and the last (and largest) beingMilton Keynes ,Buckinghamshire . Howard's ideas also inspired other planners such as Frederick Law Olmsted II andClarence Perry .Walt Disney used elements of Howards's concepts in his original design forEPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow).Howard was an enthusiastic speaker of
Esperanto , often using the language to give speeches. [ [http://www.esperanto-gb.org/eab/eab_news/1904-10-00_creation_BEA.htm "The creation of Esperanto Association of Britain"] ]References
ee also
*
Garden city movement
*Garden real estate External links
* [http://www.tcpa.org.uk Town and Country Planning Association]
*dmoz|Science/Social_Sciences/Urban_and_Regional_Planning/People/Howard,_Ebenezer/|Ebenezer Howard
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