Radburn - Part 1 Dreams

Situated in the town of Fair Lawn, New Jersey is a small community of 3000 people called Radburn. Despite its small size, Radburn stands out amidst the individual lots, commercial strip, and unplanned growth of Fairlawn. Planned in the late 1920’s, Radburn was intended to be a self-contained community of 25-50,000 with unique green spaces, transportation systems, and cul-de-sac neighborhoods. It was supposed to represent a solution to the problem of sprawl. 

Unfortunately, with the advent of the Depression, and unfavorable housing policies set in the 1940’s, the influence of Radburn has had minimal impact in the United States. Even though sprawl might seem to be a contemporary planning problem, people were thinking about its consequences even before the turn of the century. There were some very prescient minds that came together in the Garden Cities and Town Planning Association in England, and the Regional Planning Association in America to formulate ideas and solutions to modern urbanism. 

Unpacking the ideas and history of Radburn one can discover clues as to how we might re-evaluate our planning strategies today. Radburn is a descendant of the Garden City movement that originated in England during the 19th Century, so for background purposes, I will trace the evolution of the Garden City in England and America. The goal is to bring to light the lively architectural dialogue between the Americans and English concerning the development of the Garden City idea.

Out of 77 sites visited, the City Housing Corporation (CHC) chose to develop Radburn in Fairlawn, New Jersey for various reasons: land costs in Fairlawn were low because it was a rural site, without formal existing land use patterns or zoning there was room for innovative site planning, and Fairlawn was located only 16 miles from New York City. The Erie rail line could take commuters to downtown New York in 45 minutes. Also, travel to New York City by car was facilitated with the completion of the George Washington Bridge in 1931. 

The CHC’s initial intention for Radburn was to build a Garden City one square mile in size accomodating 25 to 50,000 residents. To this end, the CHC acquired 1300 acres of land for 3.3 million dollars. Following the example of Sunnyside, an earlier development project in Queens, the CHC planned to resell excess land for a profit. Today Radburn covers only 149 acres and is home to 677 families. Only 100 acres, accomodating 500 families, were built before 1940.

The planners of Radburn were interested in exploring new patterns of land use. They wanted to shift the development of a physical and social landscape away from the real estate speculator to the needs of the family and child. For that reason, they focused on the revision of the relation of houses, roads, automobiles, gardens, and local neighborhoods. Radburn was conceived as a balanced town. It was to contain a mix of industry, open space, commerce, and residential areas. In Radburn, the neighborhood community is the basic unit of city building. The neighborhood consists of markets, schools, superblock, cul-de-sac circulation system, and open space.

The neighborhood is organized around the elementary school. In this regard, children define the plan of the city. The school not only serves for the education of children, but also functions as the cultural center for adults. The school was designed to contain an auditorium, gym, library, and museum for community use. Schools are elevated in the topography to show their cultural significance. 

In the original Radburn town plan there were three neighborhoods, each planned around a half-mile radius centering on an elementary schools and playground. The number of children required by an elementary school determined the number of residents in a superblock. At Radburn, the neighborhoods were planned for 7,500-10,000 people. The main educational and cultural center was the high school. It was to be located on a hill equidistant from the 3 proposed elementary schools.

Within each neighborhood unit, there was to be a town shopping center. The Plaza Building was built opposite the railroad station, and located on the corner of Fairlawn Avenue Plaza Road so that it could serve the regional and local markets. Designed by Frederick Ackerman, it accommodates both the pedestrian and automobile. The City Housing Corporation realty office was located at the corner of the Plaza building. 

In 1928, the CHC started to build 2 neighborhoods, neither of which was completed. Within these neighborhoods, were the superblocks. Herbert Emmerich, a young general manager, later head of federal public housing authority is credited with the original diagram of the Radburn superblock. The superblock form was related to the land and way of life. The superblocks are 35-40 acres in size surrounded by wide streets and penetrated with peripheral cul-de-sacs. The Radburn superblock can be characterized typologically by its: articulated road system, housing clustered around cul-de-sacs, and open-space backbone. 

At Radburn each type of road was planned for a distinct purpose. Each street’s dimensions were determined by its role in transportation system of the entire community. Arterial highways connect Radburn to other towns. Secondary roads tie the six superblock units together. Automobiles are directed around the periphery rather than through the superblock.

Cul-de-sacs provide direct vehicular access to the homes. Cul-de-sac roads are 18-20 feet wide and 275 feet long. There are 15 to 20 houses clustered around each cul-de-sac. Unlike traditional grid lots, cul-de-sac lots are not uniformly rectangular. In the cul-de-sacs, the dwelling unit is reoriented. The street side is designated for service and the automobile, and the open space side is designated for peaceful living. While living and sleeping rooms face gardens and parks, the kitchen and garage face the street. As a result of this re-orientation, each house has two faces and no private backyard. 

By designing roads to their function, the amount of roads was reduced. Compared to 35% road coverage in a typical American suburb, at Radburn, roads cover only 21% of the development. In Towards New Towns, Clarence Stein’s writes, “The area in streets and the length of utilities at Radburn are 20% less than in the typical American street plan. The saving in cost… not only paid for the 12-14 per cent of the total area that went into internal parks, but also covered the cost of grading and landscaping the play spaces and green links connecting the central block commons.” [1]

Open space, a commodity too expensive for most cities to purchase, was an integrated component of the Radburn plan. The 23 acres of pedestrian open space at Radburn serve as a backbone for residential environment. The parkland and its 8 miles of walkways connect residents to the educational, civic, recreational, and commercial centers of the town. The open space resides in the interior of superblock and is roughly 1200 by 1800 feet in dimension. Today, the common interior parkland is held in trust by the Radburn Association.

By establishing interior open space pedestrian footpaths, pedestrian under and overpasses connecting superblocks, and peripheral vehicular road systems, Radburn planners were able to separate pedestrian and vehicular movement. This plan for the separation of different modes of traffic, (similar to the plan conceived by Frederick Olmstead for Central Park), differs greatly from the gridiron pattern which makes all streets equally inviting to traffic.

For its ingenious separation of traffic, Radburn was heralded as “The only town in the world exclusively designed to meet the needs of this automobile age in a practical manner.” [2] Lewis Mumford commented that “Radburn was the most forward step in urban planning since Venice”[3] 

Bibliography
1. Carol A. Christensen. The American Garden City and the New Towns Movement. Ann Arbor, Mich. : UMI Research Press, 1986.
2. Christie, Alden. "Radburn Reconsidered." Connection, May 25, 1964, no. 7, p. 36-41; with illus., plan
Community Patterns. Architectural Forum 1936 v. 64 p 244-247
3. De Soissons, Maurice. Welwyn Garden City : A Town Designed for Healthy Living. Cambridge, [England] : Publications for Companies, 1988.