Garden suburb

Houses on Bournville Lane; part of Bournville Village Trust.

[edit] Introduction

Garden suburbs were introduced in the late 19th century. The concept can be considered the predecessor to the exurb, which emerged in the US in the 1950s. Both were dependent on the development of improved methods of transportation.

Garden suburbs are residential areas well beyond the suburbs. They are the opposite of garden cities, which were introduced in Ebenezer Howard’s 1898 publication ‘To-morrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform’. While garden cities offered strong local job opportunities within easy commuting distance of homes, many garden suburb communities did not include commercial and industrial components.

Bournville is a noteworthy exception. Referred to as “the factory in a garden", Bournville is a model village on the south side of Birmingham. It is best known for its connections with the Cadbury family and chocolate. The Cadburys named the area "Bournville" after the Bourn Brook (now known as The Bourn); with "ville" being French for "town".

Cadbury moved the factory to Bournville in 1879 and built a community for its workforce. The village is made up of hundreds of small cottages and houses with large gardens. Small developments were added over several decades. Bournville has become a model for other communities (sometimes referred to as villages or village estates) throughout the UK.

[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings

• Draft London Housing Strategy.
• Eco town.
• Edwardian architecture.
• Edwin Lutyens.
• Exurb.
• Garden cities.
• Garden town.
• Garden village.
• Green belt.
• PWA Moderne.
• Radial city plan.
• Redefining density, making the best use of London’s land to build more and better homes.
• Thomas Edison's concrete cottages.