part b - critical discussion of critical elements of developemnt

7/28/2019 Part B - Critical Discussion of Critical Elements of Developemnt

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Professionalism Values and Ethics in Built Environment

Module Code: EB315024S SID No. 0710012/1Part B

Critical Elements of Development in the Built Environment

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A critical assessment of the contention that a strong vision and sense of

social purpose is more important than technical expertise in the creation

of elements of the built environment which have enduring value.

Introduction:

Harlow New Town in Essex was conceived in the aftermath of World War II as

a response to the chronic need for suitable family housing accommodation

created in London by the combination of the effects of the Blitz and of the

commitment by the post war government to ensure that suitable housing

would be available for returning servicemen. The political determination was

that, unlike the previous experience in the aftermath of the Great War when

soldiers had been promised a Home Fit for Heroes which had then failed to

materialise, the promise would be kept. Abercrombies London Plans of 1944

had indicated that to prevent overcrowding in the city and to aid regeneration,

there should be the creation of a Green Belt buffer around the periphery of the

city, with New Towns strategically planted around the outside of that belt as

satellite towns to serve the great metropolis. He initially identified the town of

Ongar as the location for the satellite to the north and east of London, but

Lord Reiths vision, in the New Towns Committee of 1945, was for an

autonomous town, rather than mere urban extension, at a site identified to the

west of what is now Old Harlow. In on 25th March 1947 Harlow was

designated to be the location for the fourth New Town to be created under the

Act.


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It is the purpose of this essay to explore the voracity of the statement made in

its title and to argue the merits using the development of the town of Harlow

as the subject and example.

Vision and Purpose:

It was the social vision and purpose of the newly elected Labour Government

MP given the new brief of Minister of Town & Country Planning, Lewis Silken,

that the eight new towns that his administration had undertaken to develop

around London, along with another twelve elsewhere around the country (he

had initially indicated that he would consider only one or two developments on

a trial basis) under the 1946 New Towns Act, would create prosperous and

harmonious urban societies which would banish the great evils of want,

disease, ignorance, squalor and idleness, that the 1942 Beveridge Report had

identified as the enemies of society and giants on the road to recovery. The

new societies would be able to thrive once removed from heat and oppression

of the aged city slums in which it was believed these pestilences thrived. The

idea was not new, at the end of the 19

th

Century Ebenezer Howard had

outlined his utopian visions for the establishment of Garden Cities, towns

designed to provide healthy living accommodation and employment,

surrounded by a rural belt. Two such cities, Letchworth and Welwyn, had

been built to a modicum of success, funded by private investment in the form

of the Garden City Association, but they suffered from lack of financial backing.

Despite this they had pointed the way for what was now being envisaged. By


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the end of the period of the New Town building program initiated by the 1946

Act a total of32 laid claim to the sobriquet New Town.

Technical Expertise:

It is widely acknowledged that Harlow is one of the more successful results of

the New Town programme and in great part this must be owing not only to the

great technical expertise but also to the social vision of the town Master

Planner, Sir Frederick Gibberd. An architect who had begun to make his name,

through developments of prestige city apartment accommodation in the late

1930s he was given the brief as Master Planner of the development in 1947

and moved into the town to live there until his death in 1984. One of the first

acts he undertook, in company with the newly formed administrative body, the

Development Corporation, was to display and discuss the outlines of the

Master Plan with local landowners, public and other interested parties. By

involving them right from the initial stages of the development there is no

doubt that a bond of trust and co-operation was engendered. As a result the

Harlow Master Plan was the only to be granted approval at first enquiry, and

without recourse to the courts for judgement.

Gibberd was aware of the need to build not an overspill dormitory town,

accommodation to serve London, 26 miles and a 45mins train ride to the

south, but a self-sustaining community, with good services and a high quality

infrastructure and build design. He also was determined to maintain green


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wedges throughout the development to ensure the amenity and health of the

inhabitants.

Below is a schematic of the 1952 Master Plan showing the proposed town

formed of four clusters which correspond not only to the natural landscape

and topography of the site, but also in great part to the traditional Parish

boundaries of the area, Harlow is located to the north-east of the New Town.

Work began initially on the site immediately to the west of the original town,

Mark Hall, where the town station, Harlow Mill, was already located;

employment units could be swiftly erected and made operational for incoming

residents, and closest to the existing infrastructure of the old town. When this

area was well under way the focus moved to the next quadrant to the west

which contained the administrative and retail centre of the town, The High,


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and more employment areas. A second, and main, train station was also

added, and finally the two quadrants to the south were completed. Originally

the town was to house 60,000 inhabitants but eventually capacity for 80,000

was created. During the design and construction of the town many

architectural landmarks and achievements were created. Britains first tower

block for accommodation, the Lawn was completed in 1951 and in 1998 was

granted Grade II listing; it is still in full and active use. All of Mark Hall has now

been designated a Conservation Area and many of the terraces and

apartments have also been listed for their architectural and cultural heritage

interest.

The social innovation and technical vision of the master plan allowed for

creation within the four main quadrants semi-autonomous neighbourhood

areas which were provided with their own neighbourhood centres, shops,

schools and health centres. Cycle routes and footpaths were created, located

away from roadsides so that the alternative transport networks were safer and

healthier, encouraging less use of cars to travel around the town. Radburn

style street design and layout was employed to maintain the separation

between car and family. Despite this Gibberd had enough vision to anticipate

the increased use of private car travel and insisted that all main routes were

provided with lanes wide enough to accommodate increased volumes should

they be eventually required. Also, wide swathes of highway amenity land

bounded these thoroughfares should even greater capacity be eventually

required.


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Conclusion Enduring Value?

In order to fully resolve the question posed by the statement forming this piece

it is necessary to assess what is, and if there is any enduring value to the

development of Harlow Town, and what were the most vital qualities required

to create that value.

Taking it at superficial values it is reasonably easy to state that the town and

the process of its development has been a success. The initial brief, to create

a completely new town and community outside the Green Belt of London has

been successfully completed for many years, and the town has progressed

and independently moved on to face further and different challenges as

presented both nationally and locally. The storey has not been one of

unbridled success; there have been many failures and re-starts along the way,

some foreseeable and avoidable, others not so.

In other ways the vision has failed. Many of the residents no longer work

locally, the rail route into London works at full capacity weekdays and road

commuters travel outside the town to work in all directions and distances.

However employment is still available locally if required. In the early years

Harlow provided new and wonderfully advanced housing for refugees from the

shattered east end of London and other young families wishing to make a

post-war new start in life, and it was there to pick up the slack in the baby

boom years. But it could also have been accused of Cherry Picking its

residents. There is evidence that in the early years the age demographic of

the town showed a far lower than average elderly population, although this


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soon picked up as older relatives moved out of the city to join their children in

their new lives, out of town. Technically some of the housing estates, either

through design or build quality, deficiencies as surveyors describe them, had

to be replaced prematurely. Others were recommended for awards, some

were surprising choices, such as the Bishopsfield development. An

experimental estate of mixed accommodation which was known locally as the

Kasbah owing to its similarity to a North African town and which was

condemned by the council as too costly to repair owing to deficiencies. It was

recommended and awarded Grade II listing on the recommendation of the

20th Century Society.

It is clear from the examples above that to really successfully create a

development in any aspect or arena of the built environment of lasting legacy

and enduring value it is absolutely necessary to employ not only both a strong

vision and sense of social purpose but also to exercise the fullest possible

technical expertise available. Both are therefore required in equal and

appropriate degrees.


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References:

Bateman, Linley H. ed., 1969. History of Harlow. Harlow: Shenvel Press

Bibliography:

Gibberd, F., 1967. Town Design. Ipswich: The Architectural Press

Gibberd, F., 1982. The Design of a New Town. [PDF] Liverpool: Liverpool

University Press. Available through: JSTOR at:http://www.jstor.org/stable/40111625?origin=JSTOR-pdf[Accessed April 2012]

Homer, A., 2000. Creating New Communities: The Role of the NeighbourhoodUnit in Post-War British Planning. [PDF] Routledge Available through AngliaRuskin University Library Websitewww.libweb.anglia.ac.uk[Accessed April2012]

Mann, Peter, H., 1958. A Socially Balanced Neighbourhood Unit [PDF]Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. Available through JSTOR at:http://www.jstor.org/stable/40102340?origin=JSTOR-pdf[Accessed April 2012]

DCLG., 2006. Transferable Lessons from the New Towns. [PDF] Wetherby:DCLG Publications Available at:www.communities.gov.uk[Accessed March2012]
http://www.jstor.org/stable/40111625?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/stable/40111625?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.libweb.anglia.ac.uk/http://www.libweb.anglia.ac.uk/http://www.libweb.anglia.ac.uk/http://www.jstor.org/stable/40102340?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/stable/40102340?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.communities.gov.uk/http://www.communities.gov.uk/http://www.communities.gov.uk/http://www.communities.gov.uk/http://www.jstor.org/stable/40102340?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.libweb.anglia.ac.uk/http://www.jstor.org/stable/40111625?origin=JSTOR-pdf

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