The original garden cities in Britain and the garden city ideal in Finland

Abstract

Ebenezer Howard's garden city ideal has two essential features. First, princi­pal sources of employment and the business area should be within a short walking distance from the residential area itself and routes to work should be made attractive by gardens, flower‑arrangements and planted trees and bushes. Building should only begin after detailed town planning, which should include both land use and traffic routes. Social considerations should be taken into account in the planning, and the economic structure of the community should be balanced and self‑sufficient. There should be no need for commuter traffic. Modern town planning has been greatly influenced by these demands. Two garden cities have been built according to these principles, Letchworth (1904) and Welwyn (1920), and also some garden suburbs, among others Hampstead Garden Suburb (1907).

The first garden city experiment in Finland was Eliel Saarinen's Munkki­niemi–Haaga plan of 1915, but it was so much ahead of its time that the owner of the estate did not dare to carry it out. The Käpylä garden suburb plan two years later was carried out, however, and Käpylä is still a valuable residential area with a conservation order to protect it.

The best known Finnish “garden city”, Tapiola, differs greatly from the original ideal. It is self‑sufficient only as regards commerce, its demographic and occupational structure is unbalanced, and instead of gardens there are woodland and parks. In spite of this, Tapiola is a pleasant well‑functioning community and represents a high standard of housing and other amenities. Areas of natural forest and parks between the houses and buildings give a feeling of openness to the neighbourhood and keep the air clean. The water supply comes from unpolluted lakes and the water on the sea‑shore makes for safe and clean swimming. This together with the pleasingly varied terrain affords a pleasant environment for children.