New Towns

Investigate experiments in urban living through this Heritage Hub project.

Urban growth

Howard memorialHertfordshire is the site of garden cities, including Letchworth and Welwyn Garden City, and of modernist new towns, such as Stevenage.

Their histories encapsulate:

  • 20th-century urban development
  • new ways of imagining urban life, living, transport and environments
  • the experiences of making lives in new places.

The future of towns

Stevenage town centreIn exploring the histories and heritage of new towns, this project draws on expertise in town planning, creative arts and the humanities.

The New Towns project asks questions like:

  • What is the legacy of new towns?
  • What is distinctive about them for residents and policy makers?
  • What makes a sustainable community?
  • Learning from the history of 20th century new towns, how should we re-think urban life and structures and environments for the 21st century?

Get involved in the New Towns project

Get in touch with the Heritage Hub if you are interested in this project, or have experience of living in a new town and want to share your memories and ideas.