Having initiated these ideas and transformed them into practical
realities what was lacking as far as Howard and his ’Garden City
Dream’ was concerned was official recognition by the government. Even
though these ideas were developed as far back as the end of 19th
century they were not officially recognised for almost forty five
years^S. The destruction caused by the first world war was so great
t h a t t h e g o v e r n m e n t h a d to e m b a r k on a f u l l s c a l e p o s t w a r
reconstruction programme. Housing problem was top of the list of
socio-economic issues to be tackled by the government. London was
daily becoming over populated and the existing physical and social
t h i s t i m e t h a t t h e G a r d e n C i t y a d v o c a t e s c r i e d louder for a
comprehensive government solution to these problems.
It is clear, from the above paragraph, that the nature of the
problem was unmistakable and the Garden City advocates took advantage
of the situation and reiterated the need for a coordinated plan of all
f a c i l i t i e s at a n e w site w h e r e land w a s c h e a p as a g a i n s t the
unnecessary extension of the existing towns and cities which was
costing the government and the people more money than would have cost
them in a new virgin land with more space for planning and a healthy
environment.46 Many committees and commissions of inquiry were set up
by the government and various recommendations made (which included a
recommendation that Garden cities be founded.4^ but for well over ten
years nothing spectacular occurred. The founder of the Garden City
movement did not live to see when and how his brilliant ideas were
finally adopted by the government. He died in the year 1928 leaving
the responsibility of propagating his ideas to his close associates -
F. J. Osborn and C. B. Purdom. Raymond Unwin and Barry Parker were
yet another set of Howard's followers who did so much to develop his
ideas.
There were hopes and expectations by the Garden City advocates
when in 1931 the Greater London Regional Planning Committee, in a
report by Raymond Unwin, recommended the building of satellite towns
as a matter of urgency.48 This was particularly important because it
was a sign of renewed action at government level as far as the
question of building new communities was concerned. There was also
another committee under Lord Marley48 which sat for four years and
r e c o m m e n d e d t h e a d o p t i o n of the G a r d e n City. D e s p i t e t h e s e
indeed no action w o uld have been taken if it were not for the
intolerable overcrowding in London by 1937. (During the tenure of
Neville Chamberlain as the Prime Minister).
In a desperate attempt to solve the problems the Prime Minister
a p pointed a R o y a l C o m m i s s i o n under Sir Mont a g u e Barlow. This
Commission had two main objectives, (i) It was going to examine fully
the causes of distribution of industrial population, (ii) it was also
going to examine the effects of over concentration of industries and
population in large towns and cities.50 This commission was described
as:
The Barlow commission expressed far more comprehensive approach to town planning than any previous published official document and plainly indicated the need for great changes.5^
This commission recommended, among other things, the need for a new
central authority as well as the need for national action so as to
secure a number of things: the continued re-development of congested
urban areas: the decentralisation and dispersal of industries and
industrial population from such areas. It is important to note here
that not even this comprehensive work by the Barlow commission was
able to trigger any meaningful action on the side of the government as
regards the building of new towns. This was also noted by Osborn
where he said:
There were government-printed reports, available to all. But up to 1941 they might as well have been printed in Sanskrit for all their effect on the minds of the public or the sectional planners. What made the country planning conscious was the bombing of our cities in 1940-1941.52
Thus the bombing of London necessitated quick action. Winston