What Are New Towns for1970.docx

What Are New Towns for1970.docx

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WhatAreNewTownsfor1970

UrbanStudies

WhatAreNewTownsfor?

WilliamAlonso

UrbanStud1970;7;37

DOI:

10.1080/00420987020080031

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WHATARENEWTOWNSFOR?

WILLIAMALONSO

[ReceivedOctober1969]

Callingfornewtownshaslongbeenafavourite

activityofarchitectsandarchitecturalcritics,butinrecentyearsjustabouteveryoneintheUnitedStatesseemstobeadvocatingthedevelopmentofnewtowns.Thelistofproponentsisstaggeringandincludesgiantcorporations,realestatede-velopers,theAmericanInstituteofPlanners,theNewYorkTimes,thecurrentandformerVicePresidentsoftheUnitedStates,theformerPresident,theUrbanAffairsCouncilofthecurrentPresident,thelegislaturesandplanningordevelopmentagenciesofseveralstates,severalCabinetmembers,andtheNationalCommitteeonUrbanGrowthPolicywhichincludesinitsmem-bershipandrepresentsonthisissueprominentcongressmen,senators,governors,mayors,countycommissioners,theNationalAssociationofCounties,theNationalLeagueofCities,theUnitedStatesConferenceofMayors,andUrbanAmerica.Televisionshowsandfeaturestoriesinnewspapersandmagazineshavebroughtthegeneralideaintopopculture.Hippiesareformingcommunesreminiscentoftheutopiancommunitiesofthelastcentury.

Thecausesbehindtheinterestinnewtownsinthiscountryareintriguingbutelusive.Someoftheadvocacymaybeself-serving,asinthecaseofcongressmenorfederalagenciesseekingtomaintainconstituenciesdiminishingbyoutmi-gration,orofprofessionalgroupsinterestedinextendingtheirroleandinfluence,orofindustriesafternewmarkets.Inothercases,theimagesof

glimmeringandsimplerfutureCamelotsarea

marriageofAmericannostalgiaforthesmalltownandescapismfromthebitingcomplexityofourrealurbanproblems.Butmostly,itseemsthattheveryideaofnewtownsholdssomemagicthatquickensthepulseandfirestheimagination,

aPrometheanimpulsetofatherabetterplaceandwayoflife,acalmandhealthyutopiaofcrystallinecompleteness.

Butitisnotmypurposeheretoanalysesuchcausesfornewtownproposals;rather,IwilltrytoexaminethestatedpurposesofanewtownsstrategyinAmericaasarationalpolicyinthepublicinterest:

Whatarenewtownsfor?

Theromanticparentageofnewtownsconceptsmakesthisdifficultbecauseithasestablishedastyleofadvocacywhichishortatory,metaphorical,andoftenwithoutspecificmeaning.Whenacabinetmemberspeaksof'avoidingchaos','organicbalance','creativepossibilities','buildingpoems',

'communitiesoftomorrow',andthelike,heis

readingburnishedbutratheremptyrhetorictakenbyhisspeechwriterfromcurrentexpo-nentsofalongtraditionofarchitecturalandutopianwriters.Further,certaincodewordsarecommonlyused.Forinstance,oneofthemostfrequentreasonsforwantingnewtownsisthattheywillbe'planned'（awordusedinurbanmattersasatermofpraiseacceptabletoboththepoliticalrightandleft）.Butthefactpersethatsomethingistobeplannedisofinterestonlytotheprofessionalswhogettheworkandalsoto

WilliamAlonsoisProfessorofRegionalPlanningatthe

UniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley

37

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38WILLIAMALONSO

laterchroniclers.Toothers,suchplanningisaninputandthequestionisoneofoutput:

whatdoessuchplanningdotowhatthenewtownwilldo?

Inthisparticularcase,'planning'standsforcertainlanduseandcirculationfeatures,lowercoststhroughreductionofuncertaintyininfra-structureinvestment,andsoforth.Someothercodewordsare'balanced','exciting','variety',

'livingenvironment','choice','humanscale'.I

havetriedtointerpretfairlythesemeaningsintolanguagethatisclearer.Ihavealsohadtousemyjudgementindistinguishingbetweenpurelyinstrumentalobjectivesandtheirintendedpur-poses.Forinstance,itisfrequentlysaidthatnewtownswilldistributethepopulationmoreequallyacrossthenationalterritory.InsuchcasesIhavetriedtogetatwhysuchapopulationdistributionshouldbewantedandhavereferredtheseinstru-mentalobjectivestomoregeneralonessuchasmentalhealthoreconomicdevelopment.Inall,

1havediscoveredsometwodozenprincipalob-jectives,somewithseveralvariants.Ishallpre-sentthesewithsomecommentaryinthecomingpages.

Infairnesstothereader,Imuststatemy

principalconclusions:

Thereislittleforceintheargumentsforamajorcommitmentofeffortandresourcestodirectasubstantialportionofoururbanisationintonewtowns.Ontheotherhand,theremaybesomesenseinthelimiteduseofnewtownsforthetestinganddevelopmentoftechnological,physical,andinstitutionalinnova-tionswhichmightbeapplicabletotheexpansionandrebuildingofexistingcities.Theseconclu-sionsarepresentedmorefullyattheendofthepaper.

Adefinitionalinterludeisnecessary.Some

havetriedtodrawadistinction,but'newtown'and'newcommunity'arecurrentlyusedalmostinterchangeably,althoughtheterm'community'isgaininginaccordancewiththepresentfashionofusingittoindicateapprovalortwoormorepeopleorofaplace.'Newcommunity'also

hasaslightlywidermeaning,andisoftenusedforthepromotionofsubdivisionswhichwouldnotbecallednewtownsbyanyone.Thiscon-fusingusagemaybeillustratedbyapassagefromPresidentJohnson'sMessageonHousingandCitiestothe90thCongress（February1968）:

Butthereisanotherwayaswell,whichweshouldencourageandsupport.Itisthenewcommunity,freshlyplannedandbuilt.Thesecantrulybethecommunitiesoftomorrow-constructedeitherattheedgeofthecityorfartherout.Wehavealreadyseentheirbirth.Hereinthenation'scapital,onsurpluslandonceownedbythegovernment,anewcommunityisspringingup.Inotherareas,othercommunitiesarebeingbuiltonfarmandmeadowland.Theconceptofnewcommunityisthatofabalancedandbeautifulcommunity-notonlyaplacetolive,butaplacetoworkaswell.Itwillbelargelyself-contained,withlightindustry,shops,schools,hospitals,homes,apartments,andopenspaces.

Thispaperreservesthetermsnewtownsandnewcommunitiestothosethataretobebuiltatsomedistancefromexistingurbanareas,andwillnotdiscussexceptinpassingnewcommunitieswhichareextensionsoftheterritorialmarginofexistingsettlementsorreconstructionoftheinternalstructureofcities.Althoughtermssuchas'newtownsintown'aregainingcurrency,theyseemtobeattemptstomakeuseofafashionablelabeltopromotelargeprojectswhich,regardlessoftheirmerits,arenotnewtowns.

Newtownsmaybe'independent'iftheycontaintheemploymentoftheirownresidents,orbe

'satellite'ifthereistobeasubstantialamountof

commutingtoexistingcentres.'Thus,Reston

andColumbia,thebestknowncurrentnewtowns,aresatellites,ashavebeenmostoftheotherwell-knownonesoverthedecades:

Radburn,ForestHills,theGreenBelttowns.Historically,

Someauthorsusetheterm'satellite'fortownswhichareself-containedlabourmarketsbutwhoseresidentsmakesomeuseofthefacilitiesofanearbymetropolis.Itseemsclearertousetheterm'independent'fortownswithsubstantialclosureoftheirlabourmarket,and'satellite'forthosewithamoreopenlabourmarket.

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WHATARENEWTOWNSFOR?

39

independentnewtownshavebeenquitenumer-ous.Inasense,ofcourse,almosteveryAmericancityhasbeenanindependentnewtownfoundedwithinthelastthreeandahalfcenturies.But,inaddition,thenineteenthcenturysawagreatmanycompany-runtowns,suchasLawrence,Lowell,andPullman,andasubstantialnumberofuto-pianandreligiousnewsettlements;also,herail-roadsplannedanddevelopedaverygreatnumberastheyspannedthecontinent.Present-dayin-dependentnewtownsaremostfrequentlyresortorretirementtowns,orsuchspecialcasesastownsthatoriginatedashousingforworkersinlargeprojects（BoulderCityandNorris）oratomic-energytowns（OakRidgeandLosAlamos）.

Althoughtherehasbeensomeslightassocia-

tionbetweenthenewtownideasandtheconceptofgrowthcentresorpoles,especiallybysomefederalagencies,thereareenoughdifferencesthatIshallconcentrateonthenewtownideaassuch.Theprincipaldifferencesare:

（）newtownproposalsarefornewlybuiltsettlements,whilegrowthcentresusuallydealwiththeexpansionofanexistingcentretobringittosufficientsizetoaffordtheeconomiesofscaleandexternalitiesneededforself-sustaininggrowth;

（2）newtownproposalsoftenstressself-containmentasalabourmarket,whilegrowthcentreproposalsoftenstresstheroleofprovidingjobsforthoselivinginthesurroundingregion;and,perhapsmostimportant,（3）newtownproposalsarebasedonsteeringgrowthawayfromurbanareaswhichareregardedastoobig,whilegrowthcentresareviewed