688 Hints for Breathing Places 



as would be requisite to form the central circle of country, and the first 

 zone of country. But were government to determine the boundaries of 

 certain future zones, and to enact a law that no buildings now standing on 

 the future zones of country should be repaired after a certain year, and 

 that when such houses were no longer habitable, the owners should be 

 indemnified for them by the transfer of other houses of equal yearly value 

 in another part of the metropolis, belonging to government, the transition, 

 considering the great increase that will take place in the size of London 

 during two centuries, and the alteration in the relative value of property in 

 consequence of the law respecting zones, would not be felt as the slightest 

 injustice or inconvenience. Government would be justified in adopting a 

 plan of this sort, from its obvious reference to the public welfare; and a 

 committee being appointed to carry the law into execution would begin by 

 purchasing such lands as were to be sold in the outskirts of the metropolis, 

 in order to be able, at a future period, to exchange them for lands destined 

 to form the central circle of the first zone. 



In endeavouring to give an idea of the situations of the zones round 

 London {fig- IVl.), we have drawn the boundary lines as perfect circles; 

 but in the execution of the project this is by no means necessary, nor even 

 desirable. The surface of the ground, the direction of streets already ex- 

 isting, which it would not be worth while to alter, the accidental situations 

 of public buildings, squares, and private gardens, with other circumstances, 

 would indicate an irregular line, which line would at the same time be much 

 more beautiful as well as economical. 



Supposing a town to be founded on this principle, a capital for an Aus- 

 tralian union for example; then we should propose to place all the govern- 

 ment public buildings round the central circle, in one range {a b c), with the 

 house of representatives in the centre ; and between it and the government 

 buildings as many markets, churches, and play-houses as might be deemed 

 necessary for the inner half mile of the inner zone of town. In the first 

 and succeeding zones of country we would place the slaughtering-houses 

 {de), markets, churches, burial grounds, theatres, universities, parochial 

 institutions, workhouse gardens, botanical and zoological gardens, public 

 picture and statue galleries, national museums, public conservatories and 

 tea-gardens (p. 251.), gasometers, public water-works, baths and swimming 

 ponds, sewer works, and all public buildings and places whatever not con- 

 nected with the national or municipal government, and therefore belonging 

 to the circle in the centre. The zones of town we would confine as much 

 as possible to private dwellings, not admitting squares, burial-grounds, 

 market-places, or any naked space, save good broad streets ; because we 

 think the closeness together of the buildings containing fires, or otherwise 

 heated by art, would materially aid ventilation, by producing a greater rare- 

 faction of air over them, and the advantage for business and visiting would 

 be greater. In the zones of country we would contrive to have the hay, 

 corn, straw, and cattle markets not far apart; and we would limit certain 

 of the streets which proceed from the centre to the circumference, and 

 certain also of the others which run parallel to the zones, exclusively to 

 the supply of these markets from the distant country, and to the transfer 

 of articles from one market to another. 



All the streets of such a city we would limit to two kinds ; radiating 

 main streets communicating in direct lines from the centre to the circum- 

 ference {dc\ and concentric main streets for lateral communication {//). 

 Every alternate grand radiating street (c? eg), and concentric street {dddh), 

 should be those alone by which cattle, hay, fuel, and similar bulky articles 

 were brought to the markets, or conveyed from one market to another. In 

 the radiating and concentric streets, alternating with these, the mails might 

 be understood to depart ; and in all the main streets, radiating and con- 

 centric, public conveyances, like the omnibuses in Paris, propelled by steam 

 or otherwise, according to the improvements of the age and country, parcel 



