The failure of the postwar subdivisions was, paradoxically, a result of their great commercial success. The making of suburbs, which had been an honorable branc

The failure of the postwar subdivisions was, paradoxically, a result of their great commercial success. The making of suburbs, which had been an honorable branch of town planning, became simply a way of marketing individual houses. By concentrating entirely on making houses affordable, the developers overlooked the chief lesson of the 1920s garden suburbs: subdivisions should consist not only of private dwellings but also of public spaces where citizens can feel that they are part of a larger community. Today's formula for unlivable areas and car dependency was already old-hat in the 1930s: sleeping regulators who allow profit-seeking development with no regard for livability generate inter-generational pain points for society as a whole. Seems to me that things are coming full circle, with people increasingly living in higher density apartments and the better apartment complexes providing gardens and social spaces by private-proxy to public planning.