The Making of a Good White - E-thesis - Helsinki.fi

union between the urban areas and the countryside, since at the outset
it would be limited in size and density. It would provide all the urban
services, but it would also be equipped with ample green public areas and
private gardens, and be surrounded by a permanent agricultural zone, a
green belt. These ‘horizontal walls’ would boost the feeling of unity in
the community and keep it separate from the surrounding urban communities.
(Howard 1902; Mumford 1961: 586-587.)
Howard’s green, utopian dreams were useful for the creation of a
racially segregated city. The shaping of the Pinelands, Epping Garden
Village and many other South African suburbs were affected by his ideas
(Bickford-Smith et al. 1999: 144). Epping Garden Village was thus built
according the ideals of the garden city: it was planned to be an open, lush
and green suburb with big plots and attractive public spaces (Mumford
1961: 586). However, as elsewhere in Cape Town at the time, the practical
style adopted from the United States also influenced the planners
(Bickford-Smith et al. 1999: 144).
These ideas lead to the area being planned being a homogeneous whole
or a neighbourhood unit. 107 A neighbourhood unit meant an area that was
a self-sufficient social unit that would provide facilities for work and
co-operation between a stable nucleus of residents (Mumford 1961: 569-
570). Both Epping Garden Village and its predecessor, Good Hope Model
Village, were supposed to be geographically consistent units standing
apart from the outside world. Their independence was to be strengthened
by the social ethos and social coherence of the population, which would
then be perfected by the residents’ activities. The ideal was a peaceful and
safe gemeenskapseenheid, a social unit. (Bosman 1941: 280-282.)
These ideals were further reflected in the way the planner Martin
Adams 108 used several smaller neighbourhood units in the layout. These
units could, for example, consist of a central space surrounded by houses
with a single entrance road circling the central space and exiting again via
the entranceway. A neighbourhood unit was supposed to diminish crime,
restlessness and other urban perils. It was effortless to spot any deviant
activities, since the houses were only surrounded by wire fencing, and
each house faced several neighbours at once. (Bosman 1941: 280-281;
Mumford 1961: 571.)
107 Having begun as a popular concept in the United States, it was a model developed by
American urban planner Clarence Perry in the 1920s.
108 The original plans of EGV were designed by Martin J. Adams (1870-1941) in 1936.
He was later nominated the second chairman (1931-1941) of the Citizens Housing League
(CHL Review 1970: 9). See picture in page 112.
116