In this blog post, we will examine how London and New York responded to urban overcrowding through suburbanization during the industrialization of the 19th century.
London, the heart of England, the land of the sun never sets, Oxford, and Shakespeare; and New York, the second capital of the United States, the center of world finance, and an indispensable city in the early development of the United States. These cities have undergone numerous development processes to become the metropolitan areas they are today. While these megacities have many distinctive features, one interesting commonality is the development of their suburban areas.
However, without the numerous efforts to develop suburban areas during the industrialization era when everything was concentrated in urban centers, these cities would not have developed as they have today. Europe faced the wave of industrialization. During the Victorian era, the population surged, and slumification spread due to the negative effects of industrialization. Through the efforts of many local reformers and legal and financial experts, these issues began to be gradually resolved.
The suburbanization policies implemented in this historical context focused on decentralizing cities. The basic concept of suburbanization was to build housing and factories in suburban areas and connect them to the city center. Additionally, new transportation technologies were developed, and the costs of new housing were reduced by utilizing cheap labor and resources, thereby accelerating suburbanization. We will first examine London, where suburbanization was first implemented and carried out more effectively than in other cities.
In London, suburban development was initiated by the London County Council. In the early 1900s, Britain’s rapidly growing population made London crowded and caused everything to concentrate in the city center. At the time, British urban planner C. L. Booth believed that the only solution to this overcrowding problem was improved transportation. The Liberal Party of the London County Council adopted this view and, after obtaining the authority to develop outlying areas, launched four estate development projects. Subway lines were constructed in Totem Downfield, Norbury, Tottenham, and Old Oak, but only the Old Oak project was successful. While there are various opinions on the success of Old Oak, the prevailing view is that the high rental costs in the suburbs and subway fares were significantly more expensive than those in the inner-city slums, making the relocation policy effective only for a small number of affluent individuals. Despite this, Britain’s large-scale urban planning achieved a high level of architectural quality. Meanwhile, in other major British cities, there was a recognition that problems could only be resolved if private housing development was actively pursued, unlike in London, but efforts at the city level were insufficient. Ultimately, legislation was passed allowing private developers to proceed with projects autonomously, and local authorities gained clear authority over newly constructed housing.
The London County Council never abandoned the idea that subways were effective in suburban expansion. After World War I, as public transportation emerged as the most important resource, attempts to utilize it increased. Americans began participating in these public transportation projects, recognizing the commercial value of land along streetcar lines and systematically laying tracks to develop the suburbs around them. In cities like London, legislation was passed allowing private developers to proceed with their projects independently, so these activities were not subject to legal regulation. During this process, Frank Pick and Albert Stanley, who would become the most renowned figures in London’s urban public transportation management, emerged. They developed bus routes starting from subway terminals and continuously explored the potential for new railway services.
As a result, a large-scale railway network spanning the entire city of London was constructed and proved highly successful. Although it had limitations due to high fares, this process enabled London to achieve suburbanization. In New York, suburbanization was achieved through the concept of zoning. Unlike London, which has a relatively long history, New York, with its shorter history, achieved suburbanization at a higher level than London.
Zoning refers to the practice of dividing space in urban planning or architectural design into functional zones based on their intended use and legal regulations. New York was able to implement this policy because it had much more land than London. New York focused on zoning in three areas—Lake Forest, Riverside, and Forest Hills Gardens—to promote suburbanization. While New York swiftly relocated basic infrastructure to the outskirts, the limited number of residents living in the suburbs meant that few benefited from these improvements.
Before zoning, New York’s urban planners developed the world’s first subway system capable of traveling at 40 miles per hour. This was intended to address the rapid growth of the city and its population, as well as the complex topography of New York. At the time, New York was the second-largest city in the world and was originally composed of several islands separated by rugged waterways. However, like many other cities, the cost of moving to the suburbs was much higher than the rent in the inner-city slums, so only high-income residents could afford single-family homes in suburban areas, while poor laborers were forced to remain in the overcrowded inner city. Additionally, public transportation was often referred to as a “double-edged sword” in urban planning, as it served as an effective means of moving people to the suburbs while also accelerating the overcrowding of the city center. Therefore, New York needed a new solution, and the zoning system was introduced as the answer.
Benjamin C. Marsh, the executive director of the New York City Planning Commission, a lawyer, and a social reformer, was inspired by zoning in Frankfurt, Germany, and introduced it to New York. Although zoning had already been implemented in other cities at the time, New York was the first to adopt the German-style zoning system. Zoning began with regulations on land use and building height. This introduction is considered one of the most significant developments in American history. Manhattan was already a commercial hub for the United States and the world at the time, and therefore had fundamentally different characteristics from other regions. Commerce was more important than residential use, and the importance of building density and size was greater than anywhere else.
The implementation of zoning began in Manhattan’s commercial district, where employees of upscale shopping districts began using zoning to protect property values. In short, zoning divided areas and assigned them to people, playing a crucial role in commercial disputes, so merchants supported zoning to protect their interests. As zoning was formally introduced, it evolved into a legal framework that regulated private land use not only for the interests of merchants but also for the health, safety, ethics, and welfare of the community. Americans were particularly more positive about zoning than its birthplace, Germany, due to the widespread selfishness in early American development. During a time of chaos caused by immigrants from around the world, they used zoning as a shield to preserve the value of their assets, and in areas with well-established zoning, asset values stabilized and actually increased.
In London, zoning was driven by advancements in transportation technology and efforts by the state legislature, while in New York, it served as a means to protect the interests of powerful merchants. Building on this foundation, New York and London, the two major centers of suburbanization, succeeded in suburbanization by leveraging cheap labor and resources. The development process of these cities is highly intriguing, and this development pattern has influenced many other cities.
