Garden suburb consept - Essay Example

Garden suburb: Definition: Garden suburb is one of the most frequently used terms in the field of town planning. Garden suburb can be defined as a properly planned development in the suburbs in which, there are open spaces. Housing in such a development scheme is low in density and conforms to the approach of Ebenezer Howard. Garden suburbs were developed in large numbers between the later half of the nineteenth century and the earlier half of the twentieth century. For example, Bedford Park is a garden suburb that was built in 1875.

Likewise, Hampstead is a garden suburb that was built in the first decade of the twentieth century i.e. 1907. The term “garden suburbs” can also be defined in these words, “a suburb of a large established town or city, planned along the lines of a garden city” (The Free Online Dictionary, 2011). The concept: Town planning underwent an altogether change and saw a revolution in the aforementioned period. People opted for houses that would accommodate big gardens and open spaces. Originally, the garden suburbs “were supposed to be on the outskirts of the city, in rural settings, with rail access” (Anon., n.d.). In order to address the changing requirements and idealization of people in regard to their choice of homes, garden suburbs were introduced.

Since the very start of the twentieth century, residential areas in cities were planned in such a way that significant portion of the total area was dedicated to the public spaces as well as gardens owned by the local inhabitants. The famous planner and architect from Sydney, John Sulman talked about the fundamental concept of the garden suburb in 1921 in these words: The special characteristics which differentiate them from the ordinary town or suburb are the allocation of special quarters or sites for each kind of building, the absence of congestion of dwellings and their better arrangement, the ample provision of parks, playgrounds, and open spaces, the planting with trees and grass of part of the road not required for traffic, and the provision of greater opportunities for social intercourse.

(Sulman, 1921 cited in Colonel Light Gardens, 2006, p. 1). According to Freestone (1989), a garden suburb has the principles that include but are not limited to environment of a park, a distinct identity holding community, abundance of open space, and well distribution and organization of open space. A garden suburb has to be free of any sort of jarring note. Plants of all sorts including herbs, shrubs and trees merge into one another to develop an environment that resembles that of a park. For an area to be recognized as a garden suburb, it is imperative that the area is well equipped with all sorts of facilities including schools, religious places, parks, shopping stores and health care facilities.

In other words, the area should be self sufficient in facilities that may be required by the inhabitants on daily basis. Garden suburbs are beautiful places to live in which are abundant in all sorts of facilities to promise a happy living to the inhabitants. References: Anon. (n.d.). History of Garden Suburb. Retrieved from http://www.lakemac.infohunt.nsw.gov.au/library/lhist/suburb/lmp&p/gardensuburb.htm. Colonel Light gardens. (2006). Garden Suburb Planning Principles. pp. 1-2. Retrieved from http://www.clghs.org.

au/documents/GS%20planning%20principles.pdf. Freestone, R. (1989). Model Communities - The Garden City Movement in Australia. Nelson. The Free Online Dictionary. (2011). Garden suburb. Retrieved from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/garden+suburb.