The Radburn Idea 1: pedestrianisation in the postwar English housing estate.

1960s planners wrote breezily and proactively about how life should be on the modern housing estate: ‘public space is organized … into
traffic roads and pedestrian ways … to cater for all occasions … it is possible to walk from every dwelling and to the shops, nursery school, and public house in the centre of the area without meeting a traffic road’. The method for doing this was known as the ‘Radburn Idea’, pioneered in 1928 at Radburn, New Jersey, USA. It was characterised by an extensive network of footpaths and open, public green spaces,
where residents of all ages could socialise and move around the estate free from traffic. During the 1960s and 70s, such layouts proliferated across many new council estates in Britain, and this book explores how architect-planners used and adapted the Radburn Idea in their designs for these estates. Significantly, it also highlights the fact that Radburn principles were also considered in the design and planning of private housing developments. Most importantly still, this book reveals the inherent beauty of these predominantly car-free environments, suggesting that the Radburn
Idea can effectively and beneficially be used in new housing developments today.

66pp, with 26 photographs/illustrations.
Postage free/included in price.