RADBURN Town Planning

RADBURN’S CONCEPT
• SEPARATION OF PEDESTRIAN AND

VEHICULAR TRAFFIC.
• SUPER BLOCK –LARGE BLOCK

SURROUNDED BY MAIN ROADS.
• CUL DE SACS- EACH ACCESSED FROM MAIN

ROAD,LIVING,BEDROOM FACED GARDENS AND
PARKS,SERVICE AREAS TO ACCESS ROADS.
• REMAINING LAND-PARK AREAS.
• WALKAWAYS –DESIGNED SUCH THAT

PEDESTRIANS CAN REACH SOCIAL PLACES
WITHOUT CROSSING AUTOMOBILE STREETS.
RADBURN’S PLANNING CRITERIAS
HENRY WRIGHT’S “SIX PLANKS FOR HOUSING PLATFORM
PLAN SIMPLY BUT COMPREHENSIVELY DON’T STOP AT THE INDIVIDUAL PROPERTY

LINE.ADJUSTPAVING,SIDEWALKS,SEWER AND THE LIKE TO THE PARTICULAR NEEDS OF THE PROPERTY DEALTH WITH –NOT
TO A CONVENTIONAL PATTERN.ARRANGE BUILDING AND GROUNDS SO AS TO GIVE SUNLIGHT AIR AND A
TOLERABLE OUTLOOK TO EVEN THE SMALLEST AND CHEAPEST HOUSE.
2- PROVIDE AMPLE SITES IN THE RIGHT PLACES FOR COMMUNITY USE THAT IS PLAYGROUNDS, SCHOOL GARDENS,
SCHOOLS, THEATRES, CHURCHES, PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND STORES.
3-PUT FACTORIES AND OTHER INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS WHERE THEYCAN BE USED WITHOUT WASTEFUL
TRASPORTATION OF GOODS AND PEOPLE.
4-CARS MUST BE PARKED AND STORED, DELIVERIES MADE, WASTE COLLECTED PLAN FOR SUCH SERVICES WITH A
MINIMUM OF DANGER, NOISE AND CONFUSION.
5-RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BUILDINGS. DEVELOP COLLECTIVELY SUCH SERVICES AS WILL ADD TO THE COMFORT
OF THE INDIVIDUAL, AT LOWER COST THAN IS POSSIBLE UNDER INDIVIDUAL OPERATION.
6-ARRANGE FOR THE OCCUPANCY OF THE HOUSES ON A FAIR BASIS OF COST AND SERVICE, INCLUDING
THE COST OF WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE IN ORGANISING BUILDING AND MAINTAINING THE COMMUNITY.
RADBURN’S PLANNING
1929- RADBURN CREATED
25000- PEOPLE FACTORS THAT INFLUENCED
• RAPID INDUSRIALISATION
149 -ACRES AFTER WOLD WAR I.
• MIGRATION OF RURAL TO
430-SINGLE HOUSES
CITIES.
90-ROW HOUSES • DRAMATIC GROWTH OF CITIES.
• HOUSING SHORTAGE.
54-SEMI ATTACHED HOUSE • THE NEED TO PROVIDE
93-APATMENTS UNITS HOUSING AND PROTECT FROM
MOTORISED TRAFFIC.
ELEMENTS OF THE RADBURN IDEA:

• SUPER BLOCK
• SPECIALISED HIGHWAY SYSTEM.
• COMPLETE SEPARATION OF VEHICULAR
ANDPEDESTRIAN TRAFFIC.
• PARK AS BACKBONE OF THE
NEIGHBOURHOOD.
• TURNED AROUND HOUSES.
INTRODUCTION
Radburn is located within the Borough of Fair Lawn,

Bergen County, New Jersey, 12 miles from New York
City. Radburn, a planned community, was started in
1929 by the City Housing Corporation from the plans
developed by Clarence Stein and Henry Wright. The
concept of the "new town" grew out of the older
planned communities in Europe and the work of
Ebenezer Howard and Patrick Geddes. The intent
was to build a community which made provisions for
the complexities of modern life, while still providing
the amenities of open space, community service and
economic viability. The community was intended to
be a self-sufficient entity, with residential,
commercial and industrial areas each supplementing
the needs of others. It is America's first garden
community, serving as a world wide example of the
harmonious blending of private space and open
area. Radburn provided a prototype for the new
towns to meet the requirements for contemporary
good living. The residential areas include every type
of housing unit with a wide range of cost.
Represented many of the basic principles of planning
theory from 1930s to 1960s
Size of 149 acres, includes 430 single family homes, 90 row

houses, 54 semi-attached houses and a 93 apartment unit, as
well as a shopping center, parks and amenities.
Shopping areas are situated at intersecting traffic streets

on the outside corners rather than at the center of the unit.
A diagram showing the street network
structure of
Radburn and its nested hierarchy. Separate
pedestrian paths run through the green
spaces
between the culs-de-sac and through the
central
green spine (Note: the shaded area was not
built)
Diagram of the Radburn street pattern
showing
the cellular structure of the network and the
nested road hierarchy
INNOVATIONS OF RADBURN
 Separation of pedestrian and vehicular traffic:
 This was accomplished by doing away with the traditional grid-
iron street pattern and replacing it with an innovation called the
superblock.
 What is a superblock?
 The superblock is a large block of land surrounded by
main roads.
 The houses are grouped around small cul-de-sacs, each of
which has an access road coming from the main roads.
 Finally, to further maintain the separation of pedestrian and

vehicular traffic, a pedestrian underpass and an overpass,
linking the superblocks, were provided.
 The system was so devised that a pedestrian could start at any
given point and proceed on foot to school, stores or church
without crossing a street used by automobiles.
PLANNING OF

RADBURN
The street plan formed a pattern of
rectangular blocks divided into
rectangular lots that were usually very
narrow to conserve on utility lines and
very deep to conserve on streets.
 The curvilinear design was then revised
to give some resemblance of character to
the subdivision to subdue to deadly
monotony of parallel streets stretching to
infinity.
 When parking is desired on each side of
the street, the right of way is between 54-
64 feet wide, pavement width 36 feet.
 It suggests parking on one side only since
the traffic lanes should not be less than 10
feet wide.
 Cul-de-sac and the loop street
 The cul-de-sac, or dead-end street,
came into use to eliminate through
traffic in a positive manner.
 Cul-de-sac terminate in a circular to
retain their inherent advantages, they
should be short-a maximum length of
450 feet is recommended.
 Long cul-de-sacs, induce accelerated
traffic speeds and render access for
service and fire protection more
complicated.
 It eliminates the necessity for the
turnaround and provides the
continuous circulation that is required
by some communities to assure no
interference with the accessibility of
fire protection and other services.
OBJECTIVE
Decentralised,self-contained settlements,organised to promote environmental
considerations by conserving open space,harnessing the auto and promoting
community life ,
KEY FEATURES:
• Hierarchical • Cul- de- sacs • Footpath systems • Underpasses

transportation
systems
• Large scale
developme
• nt
Ideal size of
30,000 ppl
• Interior park
• Shopping center • Clustered superblock • Mixed-use

FAILURE OF RADBURN PLANNING
• The design of Radburn believed that people would actively use the front of
the houses facing the greenways.
• In reality, people come and "leave" from the back of the houses and the
vehicles, not pedestrian access.
• More people and children walking and playing in the little driveways and
cul-de-sacs than on the actual greenways.
• Second, the market has repeatedly shown that homeowners prefer more
personal land around their homes to living on tiny lots and sharing a large
green space in common.
• The Depression pushed the builder, City Housing Corporation, into
bankruptcy.
Conclusion
1. Compared to contemporary developments the Radburn plan is more safer,
orderly, convenient, spacious and peaceful.
2. Many developers have used one or more aspects of the Radburn plan and its
implementation in their own suburbs.
3. Radburn idea is now the suburban model of choice.
4. From a sociological point of view, Radburn not only exemplifies an ideally
planned place to live, but it establishes a real mode or plan of living

RADBURN Town Planning

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RADBURN Town Planning

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RADBURN’S CONCEPT

• SEPARATION OF PEDESTRIAN AND

• SUPER BLOCK –LARGE BLOCK

• CUL DE SACS- EACH ACCESSED FROM MAIN

• REMAINING LAND-PARK AREAS.

• WALKAWAYS –DESIGNED SUCH THAT

PLAN SIMPLY BUT COMPREHENSIVELY DON’T STOP AT THE INDIVIDUAL PROPERTY

ELEMENTS OF THE RADBURN IDEA:

Radburn is located within the Borough of Fair Lawn,

Size of 149 acres, includes 430 single family homes, 90 row

Shopping areas are situated at intersecting traffic streets

 Finally, to further maintain the separation of pedestrian and

• Hierarchical • Cul- de- sacs • Footpath systems • Underpasses

• Shopping center • Clustered superblock • Mixed-use

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