6 NOVEMBER 1909, Page 13

TOWN PLANNING IN PRACTICE.

Town Planning in Practice. By Raymond Unwin. (T. Fisher Unwin. 21s. net.)—It is a common experience that when we see some country town or village which has suffered little change we say : "What a charming old place!" and that when tho change has taken place we cry : "How detestably modern !" This is all to be altered. The modern town or suburb or village is to be a thing of beauty. Something has been actually done in this direction, and we have good reason to hope that more will be done in the future. Not to speak of the direct outcome of the new movement, such as the Garden City at Letchworth, there have been some more or less satisfactory efforts in this line,—Eastbourne, for instance, where circumstances have been favourable, and Westgate-on-Sea are creditable examples of town-planning. At Bexhill we may see the planning system and casual buildings side by side, and the contrast is most informing. Mr. Unwin has dealt with the subject in a most painstaking way. He has studied the matter elsewhere ; he has considered what is possible here. And he has elaborated what we may call a great scheme, though it must not be supposed that he is adverse to a large liberty of choice and treatment. We must be content with warmly commending his volume to our readers. It is full of detail and eminently practical, as when he examines the building regulations, and should be most useful.