Housing and Town Planning. Garden Cities 67 



On these lines Bournville came into existence and 

 now there are 923 houses with a population of 4000. 

 The houses are well designed and the gardens are laid 

 out by the estate gardeners. The schools and public 

 buildings are attractive, and the Village Council, a volun- 

 tary body, has accomplished a good deal of useful work. 



The success of Bournville is beyond question. The 

 rural surroundings, the attractive appearance of the 

 houses, and the absence of monotony, all have their 

 influence in promoting a healthy and cheerful life for 

 the people. The death rate per 1000 for England and 

 Wales is 13-9, for Birmingham 14-5, and for Bournville 

 5-5 ; this fact is a striking testimony to the healthiness 

 of the community in this model village. 



We will now turn our attention to another garden 

 city, on a larger and more ambitious plan. In 1902 

 about 4000 acres were bought at Letchworth, near 

 Hitchin, in Hertfordshire, and here it was decided to 

 found a town in which the evils of overcrowding and 

 insanitary areas could never occur. The name for the 

 town was decided by vote, and Letchworth (Garden 

 City) is now one of the foremost of the new develop- 

 ments in town planning. There are 1761 buildings in 

 Garden City and the population is 7912. 



Perhaps the chief feature in Garden City is its 

 rural setting in open fields. Two-thirds of the whole 

 area of the town are devoted to farms, orchards, 

 parks, and small holdings, and a rural belt surrounds 

 it. The streets of the town are spacious, having 

 greensward and trees on either side, and the houses 

 with their gardens are quite a joy to the happy 

 dwellers in them. The inhabitants are tradesmen, 

 mechanics, manufacturers with their staffs, and London 



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