Account for the rise of Ebenezer Howard’s garden city idea i

The original shareholders who put up the money to buy the land did not expect a dividend. Only leaseholds were available on property, and the ground rent was paid to the company, with the idea that the surplus would be used for the benefit of the town, rather than becoming the landlord’s profits. It had cost 300,000 pounds to build which was borrowed with the idea that it would be paid of in thirty years with interest if factories and people came to live there (first example of public and private initiative). They borrow money, buy land, build on it then they first pay of the loan and then use the rents to sustain services. Public finance helps get it up and running and private helps sustain it.

In 1905 the ‘Cheap Cottages Exhibition’ attracted wide publicity for the Garden City and demonstrated that sound housing could be provided at a cost of just £150 per dwelling. The exhibition attracted 60,000 people and its success prompted a second exhibition in 1907. The years 1904 to 191

The principles applied when building Letchworth were an experiment to try and overcome the problems of overcrowded, unhealthy cities, depressed rural areas and the poor building standards prevailing in some areas by the end of the Victorian era. Indeed the principles have had influence on the British and international planners, but overall the idea failed to achieve all that it had set out to.

Regrettably the First World War disrupted development and plans for a number of public buildings on the Broadway never materialised. However, the 1920s witnessed Letchworth’s re-emergence, and between 1924 and 1926 alone, fifty new shops were opened. The most comprehensive development was the arcade a covered shopping mall which linked the town centres two major streets Station Road and Leys Avenue.

It was initially a failure on financial grounds, the town couldn’t provide what it had promised and since it was only half fully rents couldn’t be raised. In addition people wanted to own the houses rather than just rent them, but the plan disallowed them to buy. The three magnets plan promised freedom, yet living in the garden city the individual had to abide by rules set out for them. The ideas were contradicting themselves. Furthermore those who invest want a greater return so investors in the plan tended to be philanthropists. Factories were crucial to the idea yet industry was difficult to attract. Factory owners were reluctant to become involved as they were required to build in a place which dictated how they ran things. They were expected to pay high wages and use machinery which was non-polluting, the cost of which would mount. It wo

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