Soviet communism and the British planning movement: rational learning or Utopian imagining?

Abstract

This article examines the impact of Soviet communism on the British planning movement, especially from the 1930s–1960s. It is a very specific case study of international knowledge flows. The broad question of whether these resulted from a consciously rational learning process or were a more culturally constructed exercise in ‘imaginative geography’ informs the empirical investigation. This focuses on the evolving political context for Anglo-Soviet planning contacts, the shifting motivations for seeking Soviet knowledge and the evolving balance of resultant relationships. The important role of a ‘friendship organisation’, the Society for Cultural Relations with the USSR, is examined. From 1955, the British Council created a new basis for contact that was less sympathetic to Soviet ideals. Many specific instances of planning connections are identified, especially visits in the 1930s and during the ‘Khrushchev thaw’ in the 1950s. Overall, predominantly Utopian 1930s' views of Soviet urban planning changed towards more critical and negative views. Throughout, however, even the most sympathetic architects and planners retained some critical detachment and never proposed direct copying of Soviet planning models. The main impact for British planning was as a vast case study of the virtues of a bold, comprehensive and state-led approach.