The Dominion THURSDAY, MAY 22, 1919. A PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 203, 22 May 1919, Page 4

The Dominion THURSDAY, MAY 22, 1919. A PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT

Some very big questions arc raised at the Town-planning Conference which is now sitting in Wellington, and since they are questions which I closely touch the interests of all sections of • the, population of_ the Dominion it is a matter for satisfaction that they arc raised in a definitely practical way. The idea that town-planners are amiable cranks with whom practical people can have nothing to do is certainly much less widespread in New Zealand than it used to be, and probably by the time the present confer■ence has concluded its discussions and framed a set of recommenda-, tions it will be possible to regard | the idea as finally _ exploded. Organised as it is with the sympathy and active support of the Government and of city and other local authorities, the conclusions of the conference will certainly . carry weight, and it can hardly be doubted that they will potently influence public policy in regard' to the varied activities to which towi}planning applies. That the conference is able to address itself in these conditions to the problems set before it is due in no small degree to the energy and progressive spirit of the Minister of Internal Affairs.. Mr. Russell is himself well qualified by knowledge and in other ways to advancc the objects townplanners have at heart, and undoubtedly he has done much to bring Mr. Hurst Seager and other experts into effective touch with the public. The conference and exhibition now organised ought to do a great deftl of good by enlarging and spreading abroad a knowledge of town-planning and its possibilities. People who are still inclined to think that, town-planning does not concern them will soon find cause to abandon thai opinion if they visit the exhibition at the Town Hall. Even a cursory survey of the exhibits will convince those who arc open to reason thai; this great movement of social improvement and reform claims the support of all save those who are indifferent to health, qomfort, conand welfare, as well as lacking m a sense of beauty. Fortified as they are.by the evidence of what has been, accomplished in other countries, countenanced by tils Government and local autliori-< ties, and encouraged by at least the beginnings 'of a popular response to their,teachings, it will be strange if the town-planners assembled ,at the conference arc hot enabled before it ends to frame tangible -with reasonable prospects of seeing them carried into effect.

It, of cottrsc, would be going a long 'way beyond the facts to say 1 that there is any general or widespread appreciation by; the public of the possibilities of town-planning as it bears comprehensively on the laying out and 'improvement of cities and towns, on the planning of houses and buildings, on transport, industry, and other aspects of communal life. But there is widespread and keen dissatisfaction in this country with some at least of the conditions town-planners -are anxious to remedy, and to this extent the task of the reformers is simplified. The late epidemii was educative in the light it cast upon the squalor, and conditions only short of squ'ilor, that have been allowed to develop in the hasty and ill-regulated growth of some uf our centres of population. Even before the epidemic, however, , an acute shortage of houss in many centres, notably in Wellington, had cieatad a more or less cMned demand for radical reforms. At a still wider view there is in New Zealand, as in other countries, a healthy and increasing desire for better standards of living. Thus, although an informed and practical appreciation of_ town-planning is still the exception, the ground is to some extent prepared for the reforms its exponents are' intent on promoting. Some people, while admitting as they,must that the inhabitants of a garden city are vastly better off than those of an average colonial town, have argued* that it is too lata to do much country towards approaching- the garden city ideal—that the financial and other difficulties standing in the way are all but insuperable. Such 'ideas ought to receive short shrift in New Zealand. It is true that we aro handicapped, in some instances seriously, by the mistakes of the past and by the unsatisfactory conditions that have been allowed to arise, particularly . in the more populous centres. _ But tour largest towns are mere villages in comparison with what they are destined to become—all the decentralisation that can be effected will not prevent their expanding enormously as time goes on—and in regulating this extended growth there is no need to follow the bad models and haphazard methods of the past. .Over most of its area, also, this is a country of wide spaces, little developed, but capable of the highest development. In many directions there is a perfectly open opportunity of reversing what is bad in the method's hitherto in vogue, and forwarding development in accordance with the most enlightened modern ideas. Nothing but apathy on the part of its people and governing authorities will prevent New Zealand creating within a decade or two an array of garden towns and suburbs—residential and other areas in 'which the very most is made of natural opportunities from the standpoint of health, comfort, convenience, beauty, and all-round | utility. The fact,that there'are areas it will be costly and difficult to. clear and improve—To Aro flat, is a conspicuous example—ought j rather to stimulate than discourage the bold adoption of modern meth-' ods where there is scope, for new development on virgin ground. We cannot speedily raise our more important cities and towns to tho standards that are desirable. Butit is open to us to extend them on' other lines than those pursued in the past, where it is now demonstrated that these were wrong. The extension of towns and citics on sound lines would set limits to, and in some respect simplify, the problem of eliminating the evils of squalor and congestion where these exist. Ini some eases it might be necessary for a progressive municipality to reach out beyond a thinly-populated suburban _ belt in order to arrive at an area in which the unrestricted application of modern principles of town-planning

would be possible. But in view of the latter-day development of rapid transport, assisted as it is likely to be in this country by the harnessing of water-power, such a policy ought to be quite practicable and consistent with sound economy.

A strong lead by the Government seems to be the first thing needed to inaugurate widespread town-plan-ning activities in this country. In view of the creditable spirit of enterprise shown by the Minister of Internal Affairs there should be no reason to doubt that such a lead will be given. There is need obviously of a central authority which would place the best expert advice at the disposal of all local bodies, and enforco the adoption of sound methods. At all times, also, it will be an essentia! part of the work of speeding such reforms as townplanning brings into prospect to awaken and stimulate intelligent public interest. Even those who are least inclined to look beyond the daily routine should bo able to per-, ceive the merits of a movement' which aims, as one of its essential objects, at giving people good homes in the best possible surroundings.