HIGHGATE NEW TOWN PHASE 1, CAMDEN Community-led Conservation Guidance for inclusion in the Dartmouth Park Conservation Area and Application for Grade II* Listing

4.7 Urban Renewal and Community
4.7.1 Tábori was opposed to the idea of the estate as an enclosed enclave and supported an approach
through urban renewal (Swenarton 2017: 135). Through this he sought to utilise existing qualities,
retain existing housing of quality where able and introduce new housing using what was essentially
an infill principle. As part of this, non-housing functions would be located within the buildings at
street in an effort to draw in the public from surrounding areas. This connecting up HNT as a
piece of city was developed by through-routes and establishing a network of visual connections
with the surrounding streets and Highgate Cemetery. This sense of continuity is strengthened by
the extensive planting throughout HNT, matching the greenery of the cemetery. Another facet of
continuity was the use of the same street signs as neighbouring streets. These were later removed
and replaced with standard Camden council signs and estate maps which mark HNT out as
something separate to the neighbouring streets (Pers. Comm. Watkinson: 2018).
4.7.2 The community-spaces at HNT, particularly the informal squares and the greens, are a very
important resource for residents in their everyday discourse. Historian Robert Maxwell writing about
Alexandra Road describes the various community spaces built at Camden reflect the ‘optimistic’
mood of the time and a ‘confidence in large developments at high densities, and faith in complex
briefs’. In particular, he notes how this included the opportunity to improve whole areas through the
inclusion of a public park and the scope for needed social buildings (Maxwell 1979). What singles
the community spaces of HNT out from other schemes, such as Alexandra Road where there is
one large single park, is the diversity of use made possible through the many smaller community
spaces.
4.7.3 In establishing the routes of HNT Tábori worked with the diagonal line of the earlier Retcar Street,
and the right-angled street-plan developed under Gibson which connects to Dartmouth Park
Hill. The line of Retcar Street was developed into a cut-through which rises and falls via steps
and slopes, beginning with steps from Raydon Street up to Stoneleigh Terrace, beyond which it
intersects the terraces and greens of Sandstone and Retcar Place continuing up to Lulot Gardens.
Fig. 21: Informal Square at Sandstone Place (TD)
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