Howard is a man from a modest background, yet he still made an everlasting effect on the urban planning of towns and cities globally. Howard was the founder of the “Garden City” movement.
Born in 1850 London, Howard was put straight into the thick of the negative effects of rapid industrialisation. He saw pollution, overcrowding, and poor living conditions as people crammed into the city scavenging for work and entertainment. He saw how people were drawn to these attractions of city life, but he also saw the attractions of the countryside: beauty and peace. However, both came with significant drawbacks. This led Howard into believing in the utopian idea of a “Garden City," which would have the benefits of both and the faults of neither. “A marriage of town and country.”
His vision included collectively owned land with a self-sustaining community. He intended to reform social and economic inequalities through better urban planning, where the community looked out for one another and did not allow for capitalist oppression - like in the cities - to tarnish the ideas of its people.
However, many people did not take Howard seriously; people believed that his "garden city” idea was overly optimistic and would not work. While other urban planners found his ideas more feasible, and granted him more respect and influence. Coming from a not-so-rich family, he struggled to find financial support for his projects.
Eventually Howard gained some supporters and established First Garden City Ltd. The group consisted of wealthy individuals who invested in the project for profit, as well as social reform. He also managed to attract philanthropists such as Samuel Alexander, a Quaker investor. In 1903, with the funds raised through these sources, Howard was able to purchase the 3,818-acre parcel of land in Hertfordshire for £160,000. Creating Letchworth Garden City - the first of its kind.
Howard would repay the investors through dividends from the rents paid by the residents of Garden City. However, the company retained ownership of the land, and all profits would be reinvested back into the community.
Howard made one other Garden City in his lifetime: Welwyn Garden City, where a statue of him was put up to honour his contributions to urban planning. Established in 1920, it was the second garden city and the home of the Howard Centre, a shopping mall/train station at the heart of the town. Howards views and ideas also indirectly influenced the founding of other towns, such as Milton Keynes and other Garden Suburbs in Europe, America, and beyond.
