The best-known and possibly most influential of these was a government-driven building and development program which took place in two tranches in the United Kingdom after World War II.
Towns were planned and built with two main intentions: to remedy overcrowding and congestion, and to organize scattered ad hoc settlements.
The lack of regulations allowed prosperous families to move to open spaces, while urban centers and rural areas deteriorated.
Towards the end of World War I, the Garden City principles were reasserted by the "New Townsmen" (Howard, Osborn, Purdon, and Tayler), who, referring to the success of Letchworth, proposed 100 government-supported new towns to address post-war rebuilding.
[3] Conversely, some attempts were made at designing rebuilding efforts as satellite towns such as Manchester's Wythenshawe and Liverpool's Speke and Knowsley, which also included provisions for industry.
Further important advances included a 1935 Departmental Committee recommendation for the building of new towns in line with garden city principles, and a 1936 Special Areas Report reiterating the idea that no new industry should be allowed in London which gained public and political interest.
[4] In 1938, Chamberlain, as the new prime minister, assigned a Royal Commission chaired by Sir Anderson Barlow to study the urban concentration of population and industry.
The resulting report raised the problem of large towns as a public issue for the first time and concluded that "planned decentralisation" was favourable for national interests.
Within eight months of its formation, the committee had completed a highly comprehensive study into these issues, resulting in positive recommendations for the construction of new towns.
Swayed by the need for post-war reconstruction, more housing, and a call to halt any further expansion of London's girth, authorities saw that there was no alternative to the New Town solution.
These were: Stevenage, Crawley, Hemel Hempstead, Harlow, Hatfield, Basildon, Bracknell, and Milton Keynes outside London; Newton Aycliffe, Peterlee, and Washington in the North East; Skelmersdale and Runcorn in the North West; Corby, Telford, and Redditch in the Midlands; Cwmbran and Newtown in Wales; and in Scotland, East Kilbride, Glenrothes, Cumbernauld, Livingston, and Irvine.
In other areas, although they understood the concept and approved in large numbers, planners had trouble convincing their own governments or agencies of the merits of the proposal.
[19] The discovery and mass export of oil in the Arabian peninsula region coincided with the New Towns movement in Britain, and this newfound wealth kicked off an unprecedented building boom.
In the years following the Second World War, the Chifley government consolidated a policy to develop a stronger manufacturing base and an immigration program to provide workers.
'[21] Kwinana, in Western Australia was built contemporaneously with Elizabeth to accommodate workers close to a new oil refinery, and was similarly composed of neighbourhood units.
The Department assisted in the development of state programs such as plans for the combination of the cities of Bathurst and Orange along with the smaller town of Blayney and a new, undeveloped region, Vittoria, to form Bathurst-Orange.
Subsequent developments superficially in the 'new town' vein, such as the Hamer government's expansion programs for Sunbury and Melton in Victoria are closer to satellite cities in form and concept.
In 1988, the ill-fated planned community concept of the Multifunction Polis caused controversy; the final outcome of the 'MFP', the Adelaide suburb of Mawson Lakes is far removed from the original idea.
In the United States, it was not until the 1960s that New Towns policies were put in place, although after World War II grants had been extended for such things as slum clearance, improved and increased housing, and road and highway construction, and in the 1950s, for "comprehensive renewal projects".
Reston was planned with the intention of preserving greenspace and the surrounding woodlands, while developing dense village centers with unique architectural styles, shops, and things to do.
[29] After relative success in Reston and Columbia, new towns in the United States received federal support and funding after passage of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1970.
Taking example from European New Town programs, developers in the United States planned new communities across the country, including: St. Charles, Maryland; Maumelle, Arkansas; The Woodlands, Texas; Soul City, North Carolina; Harbison, South Carolina; Shenandoah, Georgia; Jonathan, Minnesota; Park Forest South, Illinois; Cedar-Riverside, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Riverton, New York; Flower Mound, Texas; San Antonio Ranch, Texas; Gananda, New York; and Newfields, Ohio.
[29] Financial losses, struggles attracting industry, and inadequate state and local involvement led to the program's rapid demise.