Planned
Communities, or New Towns or Garden Cities or
Greenbelt Towns as they are known, are cities in which all
aspects of development are determined before construction begins.
The idea of planning a community is not new. One of the earliest on
record is Miletus, Greece, which was begun in the fourth century B.C.
The Middle Ages saw the creation of several planned cities in Europe.
In the early twentieth century, the British "Garden City"
movement, which was the genesis of modern-day planned communities,
was started by Ebenezer Howard. This movement was a reaction against
the dirty, crowded cities associated with the Industrial Revolution.
Garden Cities were located well away from the urban centers, contained
open land, and limited commercial and industrial activities.
Ebenezer
Howard (From Greenbelt: History of a New Town 1937-1987)
In the
early history of America, Planned Communties were quite common. Jamestowne,
Philadelphia, Williamsburg, Annapolis and Washington, D.C., are examples
of this trend. The subsequent development of the United States, however,
made planned cities both impractical and unpopular. It was not until
the twentieth century that the New Town idea was revived. Following
the example of British Garden Cities, Radburn, New Jersey, was begun
in 1929. It was followed by government sponsored "greenbelt"
towns: Greenhills, Ohio; Greendale, Wisconsin; and Greenbelt, Maryland.
After World War II, Park Forest, Illinois joined the list of American
New Towns.
Radburn,
New Jersey, 1929 (From Greenbelt: History of a New Town 1937-1987)
Greenbelt,
Maryland, ca. 1938 (From Toward New Towns For America)
The current
era of New Town development began in 1962 with the creation of Reston,
Virginia. Today's Reston is the product of the vision of Robert
E. Simon, Jr. It is the nation's best known and most successful
Planned Community. In common with other modern New Towns, Reston,
integrates not only the physical aspect of roads, utilities and housing;
but also the social, including education, health care, recreation,
religion and civic organizations; and economic aspects of industry
and commercial centers. In addition, modern Planned Communities provide
housing for a variety of income levels and allow the residents to
participate in the governance of the city. It was the failure to provide
a sound economic base which hurt many of the earlier New Towns but
which has enabled Reston to flourish.
Aerial
photograph of Lake Anne, Reston, VA, ca. 1980 (From Planned
Community Archives Collection, GMU)
PLANNED
COMMUNITY INFORMATION AT GMU
Planned
Community Archives, Inc., is a nonprofit
corporation dedicated to improving the quality of community development
in the United States. It seeks to use its archival, research, publishing
and instructional resources to collect and maintain the historical
records of community development projects, to prepare and disseminate
information and analyses drawn form these records, and to design and
participate in interdisciplinary courses of instruction on community
development.
Under an agreement between Planned
Community Archives, Inc., and George Mason University, the Planned
Community Archives Collection is housed in Special Collections &
Archives of George Mason University's Fenwick Library, where it is
available to scholars, teachers, students, practitioners, and members
of the public. PCA contains information in a variety of formats
gathered from a diverse group of individuals, organizations, corporations
and government agencies. Included are numerous manuscripts,
published books, government documents, flyers and ephemera, video
and audio recordings, newspapers, journals, photographs, architectural
drawings and plans, maps, and engineering reports. Manuscript
materials include correspondence, memoirs, lectures, reports, and
minutes. This rapidly growing collection currently comprises
375 cubic feet (562 linear feet).
Search
the PCA Finding Aid/Research Guide
View
Reston Images
Links
to Other Planned Community WebSites
Hours of Operation
Monday-Friday, 12:30 pm to 5:00 pm
Location
Planned Community Archives
Special Collections & Archives
Fenwick Library, MSN 2FL
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA 22030-4444 USA
TEL: 703.993.2220
FAX: 703.993.2255
E-MAIL: speccoll@gmu.edu
