Regional Planning
The examples of Manchester and Birmingham illustrate the magnitude of the tasks of reconstruction in great Cities that will have to be undertaken after the war, and are under practical con- sideration now. Both of these cities have been addressing themselves to the problem with energy, and have had reports prepared on housing, town-planning, industry, employment, and kindred sub-
jects. In both cases housing will be the task demanding most immediate attention, to replace blitzed dwellings, continue slum- clearance schemes, make good arrears, and rebuild in conformity with reconstruction plans. In both cases also it is impossible to provide more than a fraction of the houses required within the precincts of the city. Birmingham will need too,000 houses during the next thirty years and, having to look beyond its own suburbs, is considering the question of extending its boundaries, estab- lishing new suburbs, or creating an entirely •new satellite town. In Manchester the question is even more difficult, for in the adjacent neighbourhood there are some 30 or 40 towns confronted with similar problems ; and it is realised that the situation calls for a policy of regional co-operation. Thus we see that even the largest municipal authorities are not large enough for the tasks that will have to be undertaken. Consultations between authorities and action on agreed lines with respect to a complete region is indis- pensable. This is not to say that war-time regional commissioners ought to be perpetuated. The great cities are strenuously opposed to any method of administration which is not based on democratic methods. Post-war housing, of course, presupposes re-development schemes, improved transport and consideration of the location of industries, and all of these are likely to concern regions larger than those administered by any existing authority.
Previous page
