Learning sustainable urbanism lessons from ‘other’ New Towns in the UK: : Contributing to design for health and wellbeing in the postwar British New Towns (and beyond)

Abstract

The following presentation to a Sorbonne New Towns Study Day held in April 2022, explores the contribution of New Towns to health, housing and wellbeing, arguing it is useful to widen out scope of what can be defined as a New Town. This allows learning from other contemporary New Town forms in reshaping both post war New Towns and other places including new ‘Garden City model sympathetic’ settlements. We argue that we can also learn from successful but somewhat ‘othered’ New Towns such as Poundbury in Dorchester and exemplar schemes elsewhere. In the context of critical sustainability issues at global and UK level, a potential contribution of ‘other’ New Towns to meet contemporary challenges in making and retrofitting sustainable places, should be acknowledged and explored. This paper therefore draws out such lessons on planning, urban design and retrofitting with view to contributing to discussion of New Towns today in relation to maximising health, housing and wellbeing for all.