A Conservative Framework for Regional Development

Abstract

In Patrick Abercrombie’s interwar regional planning work a concern to shape the geographic distribution of urban development at a regional level and a sustained concern for rural conservation intersect. His plans tried to configure environmentally sensitive areas into a green regional infrastructure, directing the desired development to take place within the confines of a “conservative” framework. This ambition reflected a keen awareness of the need to cross the distance between legitimate conservation concerns and the constructive development of future opportunities, trying to make use of the growing public consensus regarding rural conservation as a concrete force within the planning process.