Architecture Commons^™

Greenbelt, Maryland: Planning Precedent, Emma Puryear, Gabrielle Icardo

Precedents

Greenbelt, Maryland (1935-38): Greenbelt was one of three so-called “greenbelt towns” built by the federal government as a response to the jobs and housing crises of the Great Depression. Located in forested land on a broad ridge some eight miles from Washington D.C., the town was conceived as a public cooperative community based on ideas promoted by Rexford Guy Tugwell, head of President Roosevelt’s Resettlement Administration. Tugwell wanted the towns to foster community spirit by combining the best of rural life and urban life: woods and open spaces, theaters and shops.

The purpose of studying at this precedent was to …