Britain: An official handbook > 1977

l68 BRITAIN 1977: AN OFFICIAL HANDBOOK
of new town populations than of the country as a whole. An extensive build¬
ing and civil engineering programme has provided houses, flats, factories,
schools, shops, churches, health centres and libraries as well as public build¬
ings including town halls and law courts. Roads, water supplies, sewerage,
gas and electricity, police, fire and bus stations, postal, telegraph and tele¬
phone facilities have also been provided; most of the towns are well equipped
with parks and sports facilities of various kinds. All the new towns have become
concerned with the increasingly high level of car ownership and are making
more adequate provision for parking and the segregation of pedestrians from
motorists; a few are creating special facilities for different modes of trans¬
port, for example, roads for bicycles or buses only.
A number of the more developed towns are becoming regional centres and,
as the populations grow large enough to give the necessary support, offices,
hotels and department stores, as well as arts centres and full entertainment and
recreational facilities (skating rinks, dance halls, bowling alleys, swimming
pools, sports stadia, golf courses and youth centres) are gradually being pro¬
vided. The expansion of large existing towns such as Northampton, Peter¬
borough and Warrington has the advantage, among others, that many of these
facilities are already available.
The new towns represent a notable achievement in positive land use. They
are generally recognised as one of the most successful post-war experiments,
both socially and industrially, and as a profitable long-term investment.1
The Town Development Act 1952 makes provision for the relief of congestion
in large cities in England and Wales (such as London and Birmingham) by
encouraging the transfer of population, and industry where necessary, to
areas suitable for expansion. Schemes have been approved, providing some
163,000 dwellings in this way, of which about half have been built. Most of the
expanding towns (for example, Aylesbury, Basingstoke, Swindon and Thet-
ford) are well established and are providing homes, jobs and amenities for
people from large cities. The Housing and Town Development (Scotland)
Act 1957 makes similar provision for Scotland, where the only congested
area so far involved is Glasgow.
Urban Existing towns and cities1 are being renewed and re-shaped to improve the
Renewal environment and to meet the growth in population and traffic. Local authori¬
ties have extensive powers (often aided by government grants) to clear slum
dwellings, to improve individual houses or whole residential areas, to reclaim
derelict land, to secure clean air and to manage traffic. Studies of six urban
areas in England have been undertaken by the Department of the Environment
and local authorities to emphasise an integrated approach to urban problems.
Three of the studies were concerned with the problems of industrial towns.
The other three studies are investigating those of ‘inner city’ areas, in particular
the nature of ‘urban deprivation’ and ways of dealing with it.
Research into urban planning problems is also undertaken by a number of
institutes and university departments and by the Centre for Environmental
Studies, which is financed jointly by the Government and other sources, in¬
cluding the Ford Foundation.
1 In a policy statement in September 1976 the Secretary of State for the Environment
announced the Government’s intention to review the future role of the new and expand¬
ing towns and future policies on population dispersal in the light of the need to attract
industrial and residential development back to inner city areas.
Town
Development
Schemes