\'Anyone interested in the challenges of housing policy will want to read this methodical analysis of what went well and what did not over much of the last century\' - LORD HESELTINE

For nearly 150 years, living in a house in the country has been what many of us aspire to. This book explores how this idea was imported from the US by Ebenezer Howard, founder of the garden city movement, the impact it has had in the UK and why, on cost and environmental grounds, it\'s time to move on from this approach.

House in the Country examines the developments in urban planning and residential architecture from 1815 to the present day and considers the legacy of Howard's garden city movement in twenty-first century Britain.

An accessible and informative introduction, House in the Country presents a richly detailed narrative containing much historical, social and cultural commentary as well as interviews with key figures in this field.



By Simon Matthews



The convincing case for why our future is urban



How do you persuade buyers your new development isn't really in a city? Call it a 'garden suburb' or a 'garden city'. Anyone curious about the origin of those two strange oxymorons can learn much from Simon Matthews's House in the Country, a history of British town planning over the past two centuries



In the light of the government's recent proposal of a 'benefits to bricks' scheme to 'reinvigorate the council housing Right to Buy programme', House in the Country is timely, offering a decent primer on how we've ended up where we are when it comes to housing



Anyone interested in the challenges of housing policy will want to read this methodical analysis of what went well and what did not over much of the last century