Table of ContentsThe Garden SuburbThe New CityThe Radburn ApproachDesigning with NatureNew UrbanismConclusionAdelaide has been a suburban city since its settlement in 1836. A suburb is a mixed-use residential area, located in an urban area or within commuting distance of a city. The idea of ​​the modern suburb became popular in the late 18th century in Britain in response to population growth following the Industrial Revolution. As workers migrated to the city, the middle classes began purchasing villas and estates on the outskirts of major cities. Nevertheless, thorough planning policies were not officially introduced until the early 1900s. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on 'Why violent video games should not be banned'?Get the original essayIn its early decades, Adelaide consisted of the main city center, surrounded by parks, an inner ring of suburbs and a few small towns near the port. and villages. The idea of ​​combining city and countryside into a suburban utopia flourished during this era. The most influential model was Ebenezer Howard's Garden City model, which came to life in the development of Colonel Light Gardens. Combined with the neighborhood unit concept, this project became extremely important to the later stages of Adelaide's suburban planning. During the 20th century there were significant changes to planning strategies in the New Town model, the Radburn approach and the Designing with Nature concept. Although some were more successful than others, they all aimed to solve aesthetic, environmental and social problems within the context of their times, often through various street planning proposals. In the late 20th century, the New Urbanism movement called for a refocus on formalized policies addressing contemporary social, cultural, and ecological concerns. The garden suburbThe garden city movement, led by Sir Ebenezer Howard, was born at the end of the 19th century. Great Britain as a method of town planning. It aimed to proportionately distribute residential, recreational, industrial and administrative areas to create self-sustaining communities. The project favors comfort, aesthetics and open spaces, with the aim of offering the best of life in the city and in the countryside. In 1917, Charles Reade proposed his plan for the suburb of Mitcham Garden (now Colonel Light Gardens). Situated six kilometers from central Adelaide, it featured a strategic layout of streets and hierarchical spaces that followed the principles of the garden city model. Colonel Light Gardens was presented as a model town with several key planning principles. Topography and natural features were integrated and emphasis was placed on creating a park-like environment. Land use zoning, road classification, and a diverse layout of passive and active recreation areas were also important features of the model city. These principles are particularly familiar with the suburb of Hampstead Garden, which inspired the idea of ​​'garden city lines'. The spatial layout of the roads is undoubtedly the most compelling aspect of the project. Unlike garden city standards that followed a formal grid system, Reade developed road designs that varied in length, width, and visual characteristics. He also implemented the use of curves to reveal different perspectives throughout the suburb. It isparticularly visible along Prince George Parade, where the view gradually changes as it heads west towards the suburb's entrance at Picadilly Circus. Likewise, the massive use of dead ends separated pedestrians from vehicles. The hierarchy of arterial, secondary (collector), and residential roads was also adopted by Reade as an alternative to regulation-sized streets. The arterial roads were the widest and served as dividing lines, followed by secondary roads intended for automobile traffic, while the thinner residential streets were reserved for living quarters. This hierarchical system of roads was also implemented in the layout of spaces because it allowed easier control of pedestrian and vehicle traffic. Reade emphasized the importance of community, safety and comfort by organizing areas for designated purposes. Following the same hierarchical system, it divides spaces into residential, recreational, commercial, ecclesiastical and community zones. It incorporated large open spaces with recreational complexes, parks and garden reserves. Additionally, community buildings such as schools, playgrounds, stores and town hall were consolidated into a neighborhood center. Formalized as the “neighborhood unit concept” by Clarence Perry, this idea of ​​neighborhood design gained international popularity in the early 1900s in the form of schematic planning. model of residential development in metropolitan areas. Perry's principles followed similar core ideas of a community-centered lifestyle, separating pedestrians and vehicles with hierarchical road systems and internal green spaces in order to guide pedestrians between residential areas and the community center. The New Town In 1936, the South Australian Housing Trust (SAHT) was established to meet the demand for housing following the post-war population and migration boom. The trust generated significant investment in suburban development, leading to the formation of new towns in metropolitan and regional areas. The new town model at the time was an idealistic concept that promoted industrial growth and attracted people from working and middle class backgrounds. Elizabeth Town was seen as the cornerstone of later suburban development where Henry Smith, the trust's chief planner, introduced new design principles influenced by his travels in the United States and Britain. The street layout followed a conceptual grid that incorporated curves and loops leading to small open spaces or pocket parks, while misleadingly implying the existence of clusters of dwellings. Residential areas and neighborhood centers were connected by collector roads and linear open spaces. However, these areas lacked pedestrian systems, as the design focused mainly on the planning of centers and their commercial vocation. Thus, shopping centers like Elizabeth Grove were created, featuring small plazas and retail areas, but little concern for pedestrian systems. City Hall was the face of the city at an important crossroads. Other developments included clustered recreational open spaces adjacent to arterial and collector roads. Interestingly, during the 1950s and 1960s, SAHT introduced several planning changes that echoed the themes of the early garden city model. These included curvilinear street layouts, a road hierarchy, morecul-de-sacs, increased use of open buffer spaces along major roads, and improved pedestrian walkways leading to neighborhood centers. There is one key difference that made Elizabeth less successful than Colonel Lights Gardens. The ideology and planning of garden cities accommodated a wide range of social groups, while the new towns movement prioritized planning strategies and justified social consideration through a hierarchy of housing types and public investment in private property. The project's approach attempted to combine a set of design principles with poorly defined social goals. The Radburn approach The 1970s saw a further change in direction when the SAHT obtained large portions of land. The new project promotes principles focused on pedestrians and the use of public transportation. Unlike previous models, the Radburn approach aimed to integrate high-density development with public open spaces and a connected pedestrian network. It was influenced by a combination of the English garden city and post-war American town planning, culminating with the design of the 1929 Radburn Estate in New Jersey before expanding internationally. In South Australia the model was first applied to the design of West Lakes. . Taking advantage of the topography of the upper course of the Port River, the SAHT proposed the development of a lake and a subdivision of adjoining homes. This included an array of open spaces and landscapes linked together by pedestrian walkways. Community areas and the local school were central, and the collector road was raised to pass through the main open space without disturbing it. In 1969, the Development Finance Corporation was commissioned to carry out the West Lakes design proposal. The landscape was extensively reworked to fit the main center of the district, while residences were arranged in groups around cul-de-sacs to emphasize the sense of community. Later developments at Smithfield, Morphett Vale and Hackham West merged the topographical opportunities of the Radburn model. with the social imperatives of the neighborhood unit approach. Some distinct features included a main linear park with smaller connecting parks, curved roads, and cul-de-sacs that became access routes to the center of the neighborhood. Eventually, the principles began to incorporate the aesthetic elements of the garden city, the sociocentric themes of the neighborhood unit approach, and the environmental concerns of the new city model. Designing with Nature Postwar population growth also led to unprecedented suburban sprawl. In an effort to slow and redirect the growth of metropolitan Adelaide, the Monarto Development Commission Act of 1974 was an application of "social planning" in South Australia. The commission aimed to reconsider the social and physical development of the city as part of the reassessment of the neighborhood units project. The brief proposed a layout of grouped housing, each with its own community space. Each residential group was to be connected to the main center by pedestrian and cycle paths. The project adopted a philosophy of “design with nature”, with the aim of reconciling the social and environmental issues of urban planning. Monarto's design proposal implemented these principles. The northwest slopes were coordinated with a linear park and community center beyond. With much emphasis placed on preserving open spaces, a bus-only solution was proposed to minimize the,.