JESSICA TAYLOR
Strathclyde University

In this paper I would like to examine the aesthetics of urbanism and therefore of density, as used in the British new towns. The mark I new towns followed almost diligently the low density Garden City ideals as written by Ebenezer Howard.  The early new towns were severely criticised for their monotony and lack of urbanity, as was the case with most residential estates popping up like mushrooms around every City in the United Kingdom.  Cumbernauld was one of the first built exceptions, apparently rebelling against early density theory.

In 1957 the publication of Family and Kinship in East London by Michael Young and Peter Willmott made higher densities somewhat more palatable, if not generally in the planning field then at least to those responsible for Cumbernauld New Town.  In this Scottish new town an approach was taken using higher densities not only to fulfil the Glasgow overspill quota on a limited acreage but also to combat the dreary ‘prairie planning’ of the early new towns.  Did Cumbernauld achieve the lofty goals set for it?  Was it a new urban centre, full of variety and still encapsulating the social nuances of the urban tenement or terrace? Or did it slip into the village way of Stevenage and Harlow?