British Allotment to American Park: An Atlantic Crossing of the Garden Suburb Movement 1910–1930

Abstract

Endorsement of open spaces internalized within residential blocks was an iconic concept promoted by the British garden city movement in the early twentieth century. Advancing various social goals, they were associated within a gendered ideology of domesticity, child safety, local food production, and community-centeredness. This article examines American responses through theoretical reformulation, endorsement, opposition, and uneven practical experiments situated against the maturing science of planned suburban development. Raymond Unwin included these spaces in a seminal morphological exposition, developing the concept of the quadrangle with a variety of uses including agricultural allotments, tennis courts, and playgrounds. Views of leading American community planners are canvassed, split between those promoting agricultural commons, landscaped gardens and playgrounds, and opponents citing upkeep and security concerns. Evolution of the interior park arguably peaked with Radburn which established a new iconic form and narrative of interior parks at a larger scale.