In the first phase, that meant places such as Harlow, Basildon, Stevenage, Hemel Hempstead, in later phases, Peterborough and Milton Keynes – 22 towns in all.
New towns have now acquired what they previously lacked: history, difference, variety, perhaps even romance.
Traditional British towns and cities grew organically around certain functions: a church or cathedral, a port, a university, a market, an industry.
Textbook example of the failures of macro modernism, or the type of bold, ambitious government initiative we need more of?