The contribution of Welwyn Garden City to the international diffusion of the British garden city idea

Abstract

The centenary of Welwyn Garden City is a good opportunity to take stock of the international diffusion of the British Garden City Movement and particularly the contribution of wgc as a global influencer, especially in the United States of America. The Movement has been much studied by architects, town planners and urban designers, and by urban and planning historians. Yet beyond professional circles and those that live in the garden cities, the British people remain largely unaware of the global influence of the two most important British garden cities of the twentieth century, namely Letchworth and Welwyn. The Garden City Movement impacted town planning globally, assisted in no small part by the contribution of the leading garden city advocate, Frederic Osborn.