Garden Village Booklet

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Garden City of Today:

Garden VillageGarden Village

Concept Developed By:Graeme R. DaleyGraeme R. Daley


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Special Thanks To :

Ebenezer HowardEbenezer Howard(1850-1928)


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Table of Contents:

Chapter OneEbenezer Howards Garden CityPage 1

Chapter TwoThe U.S. Greenbelt Program

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Chapter ThreeFuture Development Principles

Page 5

Chapter FourGarden Village, OHPage 7

Chapter FiveThe Conclusion

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Chapter SixPresentation Boards

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Late in the nineteenth century an Englishman named Ebenezer

Howard started a movement which is now called Urban Planning.

His ideas of a sustainable, completely preplanned community were a

first in the development world. Ebenezer Howardfirst published his

ideas in an 1898 book called To-Morrow: A Peaceful Path to Real

Reform. Though much has changed in the past 109 years, Howardstheories and ideas are still very applicable in todays society.

Ebenezer Howards most recognized work is the idea of

his Garden City. This conceptual city

would blend the advantages of living in

the city, with the advantages of living

in the country. This Garden City would

cover an area of approximately 6,000

acres of land. Most of this land would

remain purely agricultural to feed the

residents of the new city. The actual

Garden City itself would cover 1,000

Chapter One:Ebenezer Howards Garden City

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acres of land, near the center of the

6,000 acre site. Howards conceptual

diagrams show a car oriented city,

which is divided into six equal wards

by 120 wide boulevards radiating out

from the center of the city.

Howards conceptual Garden

City would be home to approximately 30,000 residents, with an ad-

ditional 2000 residents living in the agricultural estates. The Gar-

den City would have 5,500 residential building lots with a minimum

size of 20 x 100 feet. Howards GardenCitys income would come entirely from

rents around the city. Farmers would

pay rent for their land, businesses

would pay rent for their store space,

and residents pay rent for their house or

apartment.

Howard went as far as calculating operating costs for hisproposed Garden City plan. However, the physical development of

his Garden City was mostly theoretical. His diagrams all state that

they do not represent the true form that his idea would become on

a specific site. He realized that in most situations his plan would

have to be adapted to the current situation on the ground.

Ebenezer Howard was a true visionary; realizing many of

todays urban problems, like pollution and traffic congestion, beforethey became the major problems that we have today. Howard paved

the way for the planners of today and of the future to think about

society not as it is, but how it could be.

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Chapter Two:The U.S. Greenbelt Program

In the 1935 the United States of America started the Green-

belt Program, as a way to hire and help people recover from the

Great Depression. Three cities; Greendale, WI; Greenbelt, MD; and

Greenhills, OH; were built under this program that were styled after

Ebenezer Howards Garden City vision. All three of these American

examples show some traits found in Ebenezer Howards conceptual

Garden City, however none of them have succeeded in fully realizing

Howards true vision.

Greendale, Wisconsin; opened for occupancy on May 1, 1938.

In it early stages this city de-

cently represented Howards

vision, but has lost the traits

that make the Garden City

unique. Currently, there is no

sign of the greenbelt that once

encircled this city. It now

blends into the suburban land-

scape of Milwaukee just like

every other community. Greendale is also the site of a huge shopping

mall, which does not represent the small town feel that these cities

are supposed to have. Howard also called for a wide variety of ar-

chitectural styles to be incorporated into his Garden City which hasnot been realized in Greendale, Wisconsin.

Greenbelt, Maryland; which was founded in 1937 was a much

better representation of Ebenezer Howards vision. Most noticeably

are the agricultural farms that still exist today. The agriculture is

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one of the staples of Howards

vision, giving it much of its

sustainability. Greenbelt also

retains much of its original

greenbelt to buffer the town

from the undesirable uses and

pollution found in the big

cities. Greenbelt also offers

many different housing options

for its residents; however the architectural diversity that Howard

envisioned is not displayed.

Greenhills, Ohio; physically is one of the best representations

of Howards vision. At Greenhills, onefinds an almost entirely

intact greenbelt surrounding the city, only a small amount of de-

velopment from the east has encroached on the greenbelt found at

Greenhills. Surrounding the

central business strip onefinds

a road that forms a concentricring around the center of the

city. This ring formation most

closely follows Howards dia-

grams of how the city should

be laid out. However, is close

as the physical form comes;

Greenhills still falls short of Ebenezer Howards vision. The agri-cultural portion of the plan has all been developed into houses, and

the industries never came full circle, leaving Greenhills short of its

sustainable goals. It currently exists as a residential neighborhood

with a small commercial strip in the middle.

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Chapter Three:Future Development Principles

The purpose of this project was to take the ideas of Ebenezer

Howard, and apply them to the twenty-first century world that we

live in. Humans are consuming the worlds resources faster than ever

before. In the developed world it is rare tofind large, uncompro-

mised natural ecosystems outside of National Parks. Humans have

developed nearly half of the land in the United States into either

agricultural or urban developments.

Something must be done to stop this

vicious cycle of unchecked development

and sprawl; that if continued will no

doubtably destroy the world that we live

in. Since the halting of future develop-

ments is a futile task, we must change the

way that we develop in the future.

We need to design and build truly sustainable communities;that have minimal negative impacts on the land that they cover. The

incorporation of existing Green Technologies can help mitigate some

of the major urban problems found today. Humans need to create

communities where it is easier to utilize mass-transit than it is to

drive around town. And for those who demand to be able to drive

their own vehicles, we need to

offer them clean and efficientalternative energy vehicles;

such as electric, hydrogen, solar,

and compressed air powered

cars and trucks.

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The incorporation of Green Technologies needs to be wide-

spread. Integrating green roofs, photo-voltaic solar panels, and grey

water reclamation systems can reduce operating costs significantly

for building owners. These are underutilized technologies that are

all currently available. Sustainable design goes much deeper than

energy use. The use of quickly renewable materials such as bamboo

hardwoodfloors, have become very popular recently, and this trend

needs to continue.

Alternative energy

cars are the way of the

future. Gas and diesel

powered vehicles pollute

our environment every

second of every day. The

emergence of electric and

other clean vehicles shows

promise for the future. These clean vehicles are much more energy ef-

ficient than the current gas and diesel models available. The top endelectric vehicles available today have an operating cost of only 2

per mile, which is far cheaper than the cost to operate a gas or die-

sel vehicle. These new electric vehicles can recharge in as low as 10

minutes and get

over one hundred

miles on a charge.

The question isnot why, but

when will we

make the switch

to electric cars?

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Chapter Four:Garden Village, OH

The purpose of Garden Village is to blend the ideas of Ebenezer

Howard with the available technologies of today to create the model

city of the future. Garden Village encompasses roughly 1000 acres of

land, and would be home to 15-20,000 residents. Approximately 500

acres of the city are preserved as a continuous public greenbelt with

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hiking and biking trails throughout. Garden Village is a pedestrian

oriented city with an extensive monorail system which makes per-

sonal vehicles a luxury, instead of the necessity that they are in the

current urban landscape.The city is of a symmetrical design. This is intentional for

several reasons. Thefirst being that with symmetry there is no

better or worse side of town. All four symmetrical parts of the

city are relatively the same besides the variety of architectural styles

that would be incorporated into thefinal design. Secondly, it is very

hard to get lost in a city that if one keeps going around the circle,

they eventually end up where they started. Thefive concentric ringroads, with four radiating out from the center create a very walkable

and connected community. There are no streets that are separated

from the rest of the city. Lastly, its physical form is a symbol of the

equality that this city stands for; not only social equality, but the

environmental balance that this community would demonstrate.

Garden Villages primary form of mass-transit is the electri-

cally powered monorail system which services 32 stations citywide.One would only have to walk up to 200 yards from any building to

reach one of the monorail stations.

This is half the distance that it has

been determined that people are

willing to walk to reach a transit

station. From any point A to any

point B, one would only have towalk a total of 400 yards to reach

their destination. This represents

a level of service that residents

would get very used to utilizing,

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mainly because it would be more convenient than driving across this

small city and looking for a parking space.

Residents of Garden Village could work at one of the many

corporate businesses located within the city; or one could choose to bepart of the manual labor force at one of the electric vehicle factories.

These local industries of Garden Village would build electric trucks,

cars, scooters, and bikes. New residents could attend a 3-6 month

training program at the local vocational training center to get right

into the production line.

The industries of Garden Village

build electric vehicles because GardenVillage has an Emission Free Zone,

which encompasses the central neigh-

borhood. Gas and diesel vehicles would

be restricted from entering this area.

An immediate demand for these electric

vehicles would result so that residents

could drive around the center of the city. There would also be severalplaces for residents and visitors to rent an electric vehicle, for a very

affordable price, so that they could also experience the advantages of

owning an electric vehicles.

Residential options are plentiful in

Garden Village. The central ring road

has hundreds of condos and apartments

above thefirstfloor retail stores. Thesehigh density housing options help boost

the density at the city center. Condo

and apartment options can also be

found along the four roads radiating

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out from the city center.

The second ring road consists of

all multi-family housing. These tightly

spaced houses have no driveways toencourage residents to walk and utilize

the mass-transit system. However,

these houses do have curbside parking

options for those who do have electric

vehicles. This density encourages ample

street activity and chance encounters.

The third ring road is a mix ofmulti and single-family housing op-

tions. These third ring houses each

have a driveway for residents to park

their vehicles, along with the curbside

parking. Connecting these two resi-

dential rings are eight radiating streets

with high density condo and apartmentoptions at each end. These high density

options help spread some of the affordable housing throughout the

main neighborhood.

The fourth ring road is thefirst

gas and diesel acceptable road. This is

the road where the largest single-family

residential options are located. This isfor those wealthy residents who would

like to bring their gasoline powered

Mercedes or Porsche to Garden Village.

They would not be able to drive these

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gas powered vehicles to the towns center, but they would typically

be the residents that have enough money to also be able to purchase

an electric vehicle to cruise

around town in.Thefinal residential

options are the high density

options located adjacent to

the factories on thefifth

ring road. These are for the

factory workers so that they

wouldnt have to drive any-where to go to work. Facto-

ry managers would also live

in these residential options

to ensure that the factories are operated at the optimal performance

levels in both productivity and cleanliness.

The main municipal building is on the outskirts of town, but is

easily accessible by the monorail system. There are eight public build-ings located near the city center. These would be places for all kinds

of group to get together, like religious groups, gardening clubs, poker

tournaments, eco-friendly groups, etc. The other public buildings are

those buildings that house the medical facilities. The doctors would

have their own private practices, but the medical building would

have free public services that are available to all residents of Garden

Village.There are two schools clusters in Garden Village; one being the

Primary and Elementary Schools, and the other being the Middle and

High Schools. Each is easily accessed by the monorail system. This

system would teach kids to utilize the mass-transit system from a

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young age. The schools are also located away from the main city for

security purposes. Also found in Garden Village is the fast-track

vocational training center to help new residents enter the electric

vehicle production line without having to spend 2 years getting aspecialized degree. This vocational school would also function as a

community college offering higher level courses in a variety of topics

for adult and life long learning.

The proposed site location is in Fayette County, Ohio. It is

near the intersection of I-71 and US-35. The existing connections to

the major urban areas in southeastern Ohio, along with the freight

railroad line that passes just to the east of the site are significantadvantages for the proposed Garden Village site.

Garden Village is not close to any existing major urban area to

exemplify the vast departure from current development strategies.

This city is going to be a current vision of a future world. Garden

Village will attract many tourist who are traveling on the local I-75

or US-35 who want to see what Garden Village is all about.

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Chapter Five:Conclusion

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Ebenezer Howard provided the vision of a better way to design

the cities in which we live, work, and play. Since his passing, new

technologies have become available to take his vision to an entirely

different level. Garden Village would represent ones of the most

progressive cities in the world, and be a model for development.

Many of the existing urban problems can be avoided by smart

developments. There are many aspects of society that cannot simplybe designed into the physical form of a city. However, the physical

form can be designed to create as much social equality and well being

as possible. Garden Village has also been designed to be a clean and

healthy place for families to raise their children.

Garden Village is designed to be able to hire anyone who would

like a job. The production line styled, electric vehicle industries could

hire those who currenty reside in major urban areas and are havingtroublefinding a job due to lower education levels. They could move

to Garden Village,find an affordable apartment, and start building

electric cars and scooters in a matter of months after attending the

vocational training center.

Garden Village represents a sustainable style of development

that not only offers a high quality of life for residents; but is also

environmentally friendly. Since urban sprawl is a phenomenon thatshows no signs of slowing up, we must make future developments as

energy efficient and environmentally conscious as possible. Mixing

the built and natural environments are the way of the future; and

Garden Village is a prime example of the possibilities of good design.


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Chapter Six:Presentation Boards

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The following boards were created as visual aids for thefinal

presentation of this project. Each board is 36 x 54 full size. They

have been reduced in size tofit in this report booklet.

The boards are as follows:

Board 1

IntroductionBoard 2

Master Plan

Board 3

Citywide Features

Board 4Village Statistics

Board 5

Land Use / Zoning

Board 6

Business Inventory

Board 7

Proposed Location


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Report Prepared By:

Graeme R. DaleyDAAP - Urban Planning

Documents

Garden Village Booklet