Loss and Longing: Whatever Happened to the Egalitarian Ethos of the UK New Towns?

Abstract

There is a sense of loss among planners, community workers and built environment professionals that the enthusiasm and utopian thinking of the post-war New Towns have largely disappeared. Contemporary planning is struggling with a reality of pro-market ideologies and disempowered local government. The utopian thinking that went into the New Towns was part of a modernist project focused on planning future urban spaces and communities founded not just on new buildings and innovative design but on a social mission – an egalitarian ethos that intended the New Towns to deliver social progress. This essay explores the loss of this ethos using the framework of ‘hauntology’ developed by the cultural critic Mark Fisher.

Citation

Colenutt, B. (2020), "Loss and Longing: Whatever Happened to the Egalitarian Ethos of the UK New Towns?", Fée, D., Colenutt, B. and Schäbitz, S.C. (Ed.) Lessons from British and French New Towns: Paradise Lost?, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 35-44. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-83909-430-920201002