ENVS110 - Introduction to Town and Country Planning - Lecture One Review

Module OverviewENVS110: Introduction to Town and Country Planning.

• Module Learning Outcomes:

  • Understanding the growth of town planning in Britain.

  • Familiarity with the current planning system.

  • Ability to discuss contemporary planning theory and practice.

• Module Structure (three-act play):

  • Act I: History and development.

  • Act II: Modern system.

  • Act III: Real-world application.

• Module Format:

  • Weekly lectures.

  • Field trip in Week $4$.

  • One piece of coursework ($50\%$\ of final mark).

  • One exam ($50\%$\ of final mark).

Coursework One: Planning for Cities: Then and Now

• Coursework assignment worth $50\%$\ of the module mark.

• Requires a $2,000$\ word report.

• Compares the $1945$\ City of Manchester Plan and the $2021$\ Places for Everyone plan for Greater Manchester.

• Report should:

  • Compare the plans to assess how different eras approached the city, highlighting differences in focus/approach and existing similarities, with reasons.

  • Include an introduction and discussion of presentation impressions.

  • Use one selected theme (Environment, Transport, or Housing) to discuss policy similarities and differences.

  • Dedicate $200-250$\ words within the thematic discussion to a current (i.e., taking place in $2025$) planning issue in Manchester related to the chosen theme, citing at least one $2025$\ news article.

  • Failure to include this section caps the mark at $40\%$.

  • Conclude with a reflection on what examining a past plan teaches about current planning practices.

• Submission is electronic via TurnItIn by Thursday, November $6$th, at $14:00$.

• Academic integrity, including responsible AI tool use, is emphasized, with penalties for non-compliance.

The Changing City in the $19$th Century

• Industrial Revolution (late $18$th to mid-$19$th century):

  • Characterized by rising per-capita productivity through new technology, production methods, and expanding markets.

  • Led to the growth of basic industries (e.g., mining, manufacturing).

• Urbanization:

  • Massive urban population rise due to migration from rural areas.

  • Led to severe overcrowding and poor living conditions in cities, often depicted as "Dark Satanic Mills."

• Economic Diversification:

  • Growth of non-basic industries to service basic industries and the expanding population (e.g., accountancy, education, housing, food).

  • Commercial services like banking and insurance also grew, leading to clustered offices in city centers.

• Social and Spatial Segregation:

  • Expansion of economic activity fostered a 'middle class' with surplus income.

  • Led to the growth of city centers as shopping hubs and residential segregation from the working class.

  • Municipalities began providing amenities like parks (e.g., Birkenhead Park, $1847$).

• Transportation Impact:

  • Railways led to new land uses around stations (hotels, retail, warehousing) and demolition of existing housing.

  • By the late $19$th century, emerging urban public transport networks (local railways, horse buses, trams) began to reduce urban densities and and improve overall conditions.

• Uneven Benefits:

  • Low working-class wages led to maximized landlord income, increasing density and decreasing quality of housing.

  • Expanding city centers displaced the poor into deeper overcrowding.

  • Urban conditions were extensively documented by maps (e.g., John Snow's cholera map, Charles Booth's poverty maps) and texts (e.g., Mearns, $1883$).

Early 'Sanitary' Legislation

• Inhibitors to Improvement:

  • Poor working-class housing conditions were due to 'laissez-faire' economics, limited political power of the working class, official ignorance, and inadequate local government.

• Gradual Legislative Changes:

  • $1842$\ Liverpool Building Act: Regulated site planning and building.

  • $1846$\ Liverpool Sanitary Act: Established the first Medical Officer of Health.

  • $1848$\ Public Health Act: Gave Borough Councils powers over public hygiene, water supply, and building by-laws.

  • $1851$\ Labouring Classes Lodging Houses Act: Permitted local authorities to build 'lodging houses for artisans' (council housing), first built in Liverpool in $1868$.

  • $1868$\ Artisans and Labourers Dwellings Act (Torrens Act): Enabled the compelling of repair or clearance of insanitary dwellings.

  • $1875$\ Artisans and Labourers Dwellings Improvement Act (Cross Act): Allowed local authorities to prepare 'area improvement' schemes, though often leading to tenant displacement. Victoria Square, Liverpool was an early example.

  • $1875$\ Public Health (Consolidating) Act: Created urban/rural sanitary districts with broad powers, leading to the construction of "by-law" housing.

  • $1890$\ Housing of the Working Classes Act: Improved slum clearance powers and permitted subsidized council housing (e.g., Bevington Street, Liverpool).

Conclusions for the City by 1900

• The city of $1900$\ was profoundly reshaped by economic growth, fostering greater complexity in its urban structure and land use compared to the early $19$th century.

• Advances in transport infrastructure were pivotal in urban de-densification.

• Significant socio-spatial divisions emerged, reflecting the era's evolving economic landscape.

• Disparities in income and wealth profoundly influenced urban living standards.

• Working-class residential conditions gradually improved following an initial period of severe deterioration.

• Legislative frameworks became central to controlling urban development, and local governance evolved, although new policies frequently generated unforeseen externalities.