Grant Schapps raises possibility of Garden Cities for the 21st century

"I think there is real potential to provide some of this new housing in garden cities if we get the two most important elements right: private investment and community ownership."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/housing-network/2011/sep/19/garden-cities-grant-shapps-housing

Grant Shapps is proud to represent the people of Welwyn Garden City.  He believes it is a very attractive place to live; in the words of Ebenezer Howard, it combining  "the health of the country with the comforts of the town".

Except the world has moved on: television, phone, computers, fridges and cars mean that that comforts of the town are available in the country, no longer is the countryside a cultural desert (excepting Morris dancing and witchcraft).  And no longer is the town the foul aired place it was in 1900: the 1950s clean air acts, sanitation etc, mean that the health of the country can be found in the town.  

The 21st century challenge is that the population for good or ill has continued to increase, and needs to be housed, employed and entertained.   And this accommodation must be built somewhere. 

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See what Rob Cowan thinks on Garden Cities for the 21st century

http://www.urbandesignskills.com/blog/post/4e820670e58a2