House in the Country: Where Our Suburbs and Garden Cities Came From and Why it's Time to Leave Them Behind

(Paperback)

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Description

'Anyone interested in the challenges of housing policy will want to read this methodical analysis of what went well and what did not over much of the last century' LORD HESELTINE

For nearly 150 years, living in a house in the country has been what many of us aspire to. This book explores how this idea was imported from the US by Ebenezer Howard, founder of the garden city movement, the impact it has had in the UK and why, on cost and environmental grounds, it's time to move on from this approach.

House in the Country examines the developments in urban planning and residential architecture from 1815 to the present day and considers the legacy of Howard's garden city movement in twenty-first century Britain.

An accessible and informative introduction, House in the Country presents a richly detailed narrative containing much historical, social and cultural commentary as well as interviews with key figures in this field.

Reviews

The convincing case for why our future is urban -- Danny Dorling
How do you persuade buyers your new development isn't really in a city Call it a 'garden suburb' or a 'garden city'. Anyone curious about the origin of those two strange oxymorons can learn much from Simon Matthews's House in the Country, a history of British town planning over the past two centuries * Telegraph *
In the light of the government's recent proposal of a 'benefits to bricks' scheme to 'reinvigorate the council housing Right to Buy programme', House in the Country is timely, offering a decent primer on how we've ended up where we are when it comes to housing * Spectator *

Anyone interested in the challenges of housing policy will want to read this methodical analysis of what went well and what did not over much of the last century

Author Bio

Simon Matthews has had a varied career including a spell running the British Transport Films documentary film library and several years singing in semi-professional rock groups. He has contributed articles on music, film and cultural history to Record Collector, Shindig! and Lobster magazines. Psychedelic Celluloid, his illustrated history of UK music, film and TV between 1965 and 1974 was published by Oldcastle Books in 2016.