The Art of Building a Garden City

embedded in our culture. It evolved over

time to address everything from land

reform to beauty in design, to new forms

of economics. It was a rich tradition

that formed the intellectual and political

foundation from which the garden city

ideals emerged.

However, despite this long-term legacy,

Utopia had little practical political impact

on 16th-century society. It took the

devastation of the English Civil War in the

1640s to revive interest in More’s vision and

to prompt a resurgence in radical ideas of

planned utopian communities from groups

like the Levellers and the Diggers.

The 17th

Century:

Land and Freedom

The great Putney Debates, which ...