Suburban gardens in the interwar planning agenda: London’s Becontree vs. Frankfurt’s Rörmerstadt

Abstract

ABSTRACT A great part of the interwar expansion of European cities relied on social housing schemes built on affordable suburban land following garden-city principles. Green spaces were an essential part of these extension plans, which were particularly ambitious in London and Frankfurt. While both initiatives have been extensively researched, most of these studies contemplate their green areas as an offshoot of the housing programmes and not as an essential part of the planning. Based on published sources and archival research, this article compares two of the most paradigmatic settlements of the period, Becontree in London and Römerstadt in Frankfurt, to analyze the role gardens played in the urban agenda. As this comparative study shows, private gardens and allotments were not a byproduct but a keystone in interwar suburban planning, albeit in different ways. While in London they were introduced as a new hobby for the working classes that insisted on its ornamental features, in Frankfurt, they were part of a comprehensive plan to make the city self-sufficient, so its productive, utilitarian role was prioritized. Both strategies used gardens in a significant way to achieve their ultimate goal of improving living conditions in order to avoid social unrest.