by Ian Morley
Introduction
It is significant that in 2005, as a new century slowly unfolds, that there is a chronological platform from which it is possible to re-examine viewpoints and ideas concerning future national and international challenges within the urban context, in so doing allowing those may be with an interest in the urban situ to connect wider perspectives and debates to the position of the modern metropolis, the economic and cultural engines of nations. With this scenario firmly in mind this essay will present a genealogy of contemporary debates surrounding the future of towns and cities, focusing in particular on the association between health and urban planning via the Garden City metaphor, a concept originally proposed in Britain as a means to manufacture a new urban system and so a more salubrious urban society.(continue…)