Four Building the New Jerusalem – vision and reality
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Anne Power
Abstract
This chapter looks at why Britain failed to build a New Jerusalem after the Second World War, using the blunt tools of the bulldozer and high-rise building in green fields. It also explores the legacy of garden cities in the New Towns, Green Belts, and council estates following the Second World War. It notes that governments of all political persuasions have used their housing policies to encapsulate a much broader philosophical approach to the state of cities, and in 1918 and 1945 new housing was the reward for victory in war, a collective national effort. It further notes that the politics of mass housing became so dominant after the wars because people relied on councils to build for the masses and councils are political bodies. It explains that it made housing a stop-go, government spending spree, a quick vote-catcher and steering wheel rather that the undercarriage of urban development.
Abstract
This chapter looks at why Britain failed to build a New Jerusalem after the Second World War, using the blunt tools of the bulldozer and high-rise building in green fields. It also explores the legacy of garden cities in the New Towns, Green Belts, and council estates following the Second World War. It notes that governments of all political persuasions have used their housing policies to encapsulate a much broader philosophical approach to the state of cities, and in 1918 and 1945 new housing was the reward for victory in war, a collective national effort. It further notes that the politics of mass housing became so dominant after the wars because people relied on councils to build for the masses and councils are political bodies. It explains that it made housing a stop-go, government spending spree, a quick vote-catcher and steering wheel rather that the undercarriage of urban development.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of tables, figures and photographs vii
- Preface xi
- Introducing Jigsaw cities 1
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How did we get here?
- Jigsaws and Lego sets 13
- Breaking up the jigsaw 37
- Building the New Jerusalem – vision and reality 55
- Cities bounce back – piecing communities together again 79
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Where are we now?
- Britain’s cities today: a progress report 105
- Britain’s cities of yesterday and tomorrow 135
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Where do we go from here?
- Smart cities work 163
- Future cities: piecing the jigsaw together 187
- Afterword: the urban jungle or urban jigsaw? 215
- Notes and references 217
- Bibliography 241
- Index 255
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of tables, figures and photographs vii
- Preface xi
- Introducing Jigsaw cities 1
-
How did we get here?
- Jigsaws and Lego sets 13
- Breaking up the jigsaw 37
- Building the New Jerusalem – vision and reality 55
- Cities bounce back – piecing communities together again 79
-
Where are we now?
- Britain’s cities today: a progress report 105
- Britain’s cities of yesterday and tomorrow 135
-
Where do we go from here?
- Smart cities work 163
- Future cities: piecing the jigsaw together 187
- Afterword: the urban jungle or urban jigsaw? 215
- Notes and references 217
- Bibliography 241
- Index 255
