British Town Planning Movement （1906-1907）

Progress towards the Housing, Town Planning, Etc. Act, 1909

Abstract

This paper presents the development and characteristics of British Town Planning Movement in the years 1906-1907. Studies on the Movement tend to focus on the activities of the Garden City Association（ GCA）. However, it is also necessary to pay attention to the fact that the movement developed in cooperation and competition with other organizations. In July 1906, a resolution for the town planning legislation was adopted at the Birmingham Council. Following this, various conferences were held in the fall of the same year. Some of them were hosted by the Association of Municipal Corporations （AMC）, and J.S. Nettlefold （Councilor of Birmingham） took the initiative in creating “the draft scheme for a Town Planning Bill” commissioned by the AMC’s Council. He also served as Chair at the Midland Conference on October 27th, sponsored by the National Housing Reform Council （NHRC）. T.C. Horsfall （an author of “Example of Germany”） and W. Thompson （the Chairman of the NHRC） were included in attendants. On November 6th, a deputation of the NHRC members visited Prime Minister H. Campbell-Bannerman and J. Burns, the President of the Local Government Board （LGB）, and Thompson proposed “a Comprehensive Program of Housing and Town Planning Reform”. On August 7th, 1907, a deputation of the AMC visited Prime Minister and the LGB’s President again, and its leader was Nettlefold. On October 25th, GCA prepared the Guildhall Conference hosted by the Lord Mayor of London and more than 250 people including Thompson, Horsfall and Nettlefold participated in the conference. At that point, British Town Planning Movement reached a peak in coordination with the activities of NHRC, AMC and GCA. NHRC and AMC played a more important role than GCA in the Movement. Regarding the purchase of land by local authorities that was an important measure of German Town Planning, Nettlefold proposed a practical policy of separating it from town planning itself, but there was also a controversy on this point. The participants resolved unanimously the welcome to the Government’s promise of legislation for town planning, and the stage moved to the Government and Parliament. In this way, a path to the establishment of the 1909 Housing and Town Planning, etc., Act was opened.