Early Progress and New Town Planning

Construction of the new towns was impeded by shortages of building materials, and skilled construction workers, despite the introduction of building licences to curb private sector development, and the 100% recoupment of development values through the 1947 Town and Country Planning Act, which virtually halted private land transactions. Nevertheless, by April 1950, all eight of the London Ring New Towns had been designated, together with Newton Aycliffe and Peterlee in the north-east, and Corby, Northants, which sought to rationalise the privately developed settlement built by Stewarts and Lloyds, the steelfounders, who had begun to exploit the local ironstone in the 1930's. The planning of the 'first generation' of new towns thus took place over a short period, and the initial master plans shared many common characteristics. Population was raised from the 32,000 of the Garden Cities to between 50,000 and 60,000 for each town but the low density development, neighbourhood units, and hierarchy of local and major commercial centres found at Welwyn and Wythenshawe represented continuity from pre-war practice. Distributor Roads were used to define neighbourhoods, but anticipated low levels of traffic did not bring Radburn principles, separating pedestrian and vehicular movement, into general practice before the mid 1950's. Neighbourhoods were generally of a size to support at least one primary school often located near the centre, with its playing fields added to general open spaces to give a green core. Detailed planning sought the retention and enhancement of existing natural features and trees. Town centres began with short parades of shops, often with flats above, and constructed on an additive basis as population grew to support a wider range of retail activity. The Corporation offices usually provided a substitute civic element, while social and cultural facilities such as cinemas, and later theatres lagged behind. Industry was provided on self-contained industrial estates, often on the periphery of the designated areas, with low density factories, often in the form of advance units constructed by the Development Corporations. The spread out development, often with gaps left for later infilling brought accusations of 'prairie planning', and complaints from residents over extended journey to work. Perhaps the only exception to the trend was the initial plan for Peterlee by Berthold Lubetkin, compact, with high-rise blocks based on Le Corbusier's Ville Radieuse.

'MASTER PLAN' Document which describes the overall proposals for the development of a new town and comprises a written statement and a land use proposals map. In some cases they were produced as high quality bound volumes setting out detailed proposals for all aspects of the new town. In other cases they were less explicit. Master Plans were not statutory development plans in that they were never approved in the legal sense of the word.
'RADBURN LAYOUT' A housing layout designed to segregate motor vehicle and pedestrian movements first developed in 1929 in Radburn, a satellite town of New York, in New Jersey, USA. Houses were grouped around culs-de-sac with service court access to one side. The other side had communal gardens and pedestrian walkways leading to a central park. The Radburn principle has been used extensively in new town planning, usually in a modified or adapted form.
'DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION' The body established under the New Towns Acts which was given specific powers and responsibilities for the development of a new town.
'ADVANCE FACTORY' Factory constructed by a Development Corporation as a speculation, often capable of subdivision or amalgamation and immediately available, in order to attract industrialists to new towns to provide employment.