PLANNING THE LAND OF BRITAIN 487 



popular belief they tend to become more, not less, important. In medieval 

 Britain, communities isolated by the absence or bad state of communications 

 were necessarily more or less self-supporting, and had to use the land they 

 had to the best advantage possible, even though neither their land nor the 

 climate were really favourable. With development of transport and com- 

 munications there developed a natural tendency for each part of the country 

 to be devoted to those uses for which its natural features fitted it. 



Therein lies the whole secret of planning. To study the factors involved 

 is to determine the optimum use of every acre of land in the country ; and 

 such planning is concerned with far more than mere production. The land 

 must be used for the satisfaction not merely of the material but also of the 

 social and aesthetic needs of all sections of the community. 



In passing, it is to be observed that the improvement of communications 

 has led to the gradual concentration of production of certain commodities, 

 of which wheat is a salient example, on areas most suitable for their pro- 

 duction, not merely in this country but in ' new ' lands overseas more 

 suitable still. This process has resulted, in the first place, in the abandon- 

 ment of the cultivation of crops for which Britain is not naturally suited, 

 and, in the second place, in the abandonment of land formerly cultivated 

 in densely populated Britain. The influence of improved communications 

 does not apply to Britain alone, but to the world ; nevertheless, present-day 

 development is largely within units determined by tariff-walls, and that in 

 itself justifies discussion of planning the land of Britain in something of 

 isolation from the rest of the world. 



The natural factors to be considered in relation to planning are : 

 (i) position and accessibility, (2) physical structure of the country, including 

 drainage, (3) soils, (4) climate. 



Inaccessibility has led to depopulation in all the remoter parts of Britain ; 

 and the question of accessibility bears closely upon the position of National 

 Parks (a subject dealt with by more than one subsequent speaker). The 

 subject of physical structure Dr. Stamp referred to the speaker following 

 him. Prof. P, G. H. Boswell, merely indicating the strong contrasts between 

 the various physical divisions of our small country. In regard to soils, he 

 pointed out that Britain has as yet no comprehensive soil survey. In 

 Russia and the United States, despite their greater areas, much more work 

 has been done in this direction. Our own need of such a survey is great, 

 if only because we possess strictly limited areas of really first-class soil, 

 a precious heritage which planners, till now, have done little to protect ; 

 yet such areas should be protected — as, for instance, where they supply fresh 

 fruit and vegetables to neighbouring towns. As for climate, the position 

 of Britain is such that within it the limit of cultivation of various common 

 crops — wheat, for example — is found. In the cool summers of the north, 

 wheat may not ripen. There is a diflFerence also, sufficient to affect agri- 

 culture, between the dry east and the wetter west. A crop suitable in one 

 part of the country may be one not to be encouraged in another part. 



Historical factors have a general tendency to stabilise the use of land. 

 In some parts (Norfolk, for example) stretches of arable land are seen to be 

 interrupted by tracts of permanent pasture, although there is no change in 

 the soil. Such tracts may represent, or include, great parks laid out in days 

 when economic conditions were more favourable to landowners than they 

 are now, and some are, or may become, of incalculable value to the nation 

 when they pass from private to public ownership as open spaces adjacent 

 to great cities. So, also, waste lands too poor for cultivation have become 

 commons dedicated to public recreation. 



The use of the land of Britain is influenced at present by a policy tending 



