UK’s first new town: Stevenage
In Hollands Diep magazine Joris van Casteren has written a series for the New Town Institute (INTI) called ‘Droomsteden’ meaning City of Dreams. Some of the new towns which he has described in this series are Gropiusstadt in Berlin, the Polish Nowa Huta and Danish Albertslund. In his last article he described new town, Stevenage which is near London. Citizens of Stevenage were promised a town which the whole world would look at as an example of a successful new town. The opinion on the outcome varies however.
Stevenage before it became a new town
Stevenage used to be a town with 6000 inhabitants, mostly religious and conservative. Some 40 kilometres outside of London, it was a calm, rustic area with large green fields, farms and Victorian houses for the upper class. During WWII London was bombed which left many Londoners in poor living conditions. Before the end of the war the Labour party created the ministry for Town and Country Planning, which was to come with solutions for this urban problem. Planner Patrick Abercrombie was hired for the job. He decided that London was in dire need of a green belt around the city. Outside of the green belt new towns were to be built to accommodate the large number of inhabitants of the city. Stevenage, in Abercrombie’s opinion, formed a good place to carry out these plans. The ground was good for building houses and industries, the area was already accommodated with a rail- and motorway, and the electricity and gas network could simply be enlarged in order to supply more people. The decisive factor was however the green and rustic area which would form a suitable area for workers from London’s factory districts. Abercrombie advised the British government to buy land and expropriate in this area as soon as possible. The original inhabitants of Stevenage were not amused with these plans, which meant that at the start of this project much media attention was given to the resistance of this group of people and the promises which were initially made to them. Still the ground in the area was bought up by Stevenage Development Corporation and the first Victorian homes and farms were abolished. In 1951 the first houses were presented to the new inhabitants.
Stevenage becomes a new town
Stevenage was the first of 28 new towns built in the UK between 1946 and 1970. The town was to get the most modern facilities and the best architects would plan out the optimal design. One of the main attractions would be the car-free shopping centre, which was inspired by Rotterdam’s Lijnbaan. Just as unique was to be the ingenious network of separated traffic flows, which would make inhabitants feel safer and also move faster within their city. Houses were built in the same style so that no one person would feel more or less than another.
New Town Blues syndrome
The first inhabitants of Stevenage complained about moisture levels in their homes and also about a plague of earwigs. Many young mothers were bored in their terraced houses and general practitioners suggested high levels of psychological problems and alcohol abuse. These symptoms were called ‘New Town Blues’ by local doctors.
Stevenage anno 2011
- The amount of inhabitants in Stevenage has grown considerably to 70.000 in 2011.
- The municipality plans on expanding even more in the years to come.
- Stevenage has the highest percentage of teenage pregnancy in the UK.
With the publication of the Droomsteden series INTI hopes to
share knowledge about new towns so that people within the areas and
urban planners may learn from each other.
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