**2. New towns in Europe and in USA**

It has been Ebenezer Howard the pioneer of New Towns planning. In 1898, Howard publishes his book "Tomorrow: a peaceful path to real reform". Even though he wrote that book, his most famous one is "Garden cities of tomorrow" (1902). We can see his concept of New town represented with his idea of the three magnets (figure 1).

Howard was so worried about migration from countryside to the cities; both ways of life are totally different. Cities attract people form villages but it spread them in a spontaneous and disorganised way and this make appear suburbs. For that reason Howard said that it must be created a new way of life that take advantage of both worlds. It has to be a town that combines city dynamism and rural beauty. City offers more employment, higher wages and entertainment but also has higher prices, overcrowding and long trips. For that reason, Howard proposes a mix of both worlds, a place where people can live and work in a beautiful environment. His urban conception is city planning where houses, commerce and cultural centres coexist with industry and countryside. The garden city is not a suburb it is integration between rural and urban.

New towns are previously planned and it is determinate where it is going to be infrastructures, economic activity (industry and commerce) and social services (education,

<sup>2</sup> We are not talking about dormitory towns.

<sup>3</sup> Ernest W. Burgess *The growth of the city: an introduction to a research project.*

The idea of New Towns had begun in Europe, specifically in United Kingdom and afterwards in France and United States following more or less the direction of E. Howard in his book "Garden cities of tomorrow" (1902). There are cities that are created because of a political-administrative decision2. Those new cities are urban spaces where people can life, work and spare its free time. Howard town-planning conception is the planning of the city as a space assigned to houses, commerce, culture and industrial areas. All of this reconcile with the environment protection. Most of these new cities were understood as big city clearing, for that reason, the ideal of inhabitants is 250.000. But, one of the most frequent reasons for wanting new towns, as Alonso (1969) have said, is that they will be planned.

The development of New Towns in US differs from the European model. The main difference is the management and the financing. In United States, financing is private or public-private partnership and in Europe is public. In Europe central governments sponsored new town development but in US they were sponsored by private real-estate developers. Compare to Europe American new towns were less directed by national social policy. Distribution of the city is also different, in US in the heart of the city there is "the loop"3 where is located offices, shops and hotels and people lives in suburbs, in that case the car is part of the city. The administrative structure of New Towns in US varies, sometimes it

This chapter first outlines how New Towns were developed in Europe and in United States explaining the differences between the two ways of development. Later on, we show the case study of two cities. Those cities are The Woodlands (Texas, US) that belong to US model and Tres Cantos (Madrid, Spain) that fit in the European model of New Town development.

It has been Ebenezer Howard the pioneer of New Towns planning. In 1898, Howard publishes his book "Tomorrow: a peaceful path to real reform". Even though he wrote that book, his most famous one is "Garden cities of tomorrow" (1902). We can see his concept of

Howard was so worried about migration from countryside to the cities; both ways of life are totally different. Cities attract people form villages but it spread them in a spontaneous and disorganised way and this make appear suburbs. For that reason Howard said that it must be created a new way of life that take advantage of both worlds. It has to be a town that combines city dynamism and rural beauty. City offers more employment, higher wages and entertainment but also has higher prices, overcrowding and long trips. For that reason, Howard proposes a mix of both worlds, a place where people can live and work in a beautiful environment. His urban conception is city planning where houses, commerce and cultural centres coexist with industry and countryside. The garden city is not a suburb it is

New towns are previously planned and it is determinate where it is going to be infrastructures, economic activity (industry and commerce) and social services (education,

is dependent of other cities and, other New Towns have their own government.

New town represented with his idea of the three magnets (figure 1).

3 Ernest W. Burgess *The growth of the city: an introduction to a research project.*

**2. New towns in Europe and in USA** 

integration between rural and urban.

2 We are not talking about dormitory towns.

health and leisure). Citizens have the opportunity to participate in city governance and influence on political decisions during city creation.

Fig. 1. Howard's three magnets

In recent years, the role of the State has been change. We pass from an old administration where government has the control of supply public services to a New Public Management (NPM) reform (Hood, 1991) where the public-private partnerships (PPP) have appear and developed. This reform has been grounded in institutional economic theory. Several studies have examined public-private partnerships involving concessions, leases or management contracts for the provision of utilities, education or health care from such differing theoretical perspectives as transaction cost economics (Crocker and Masten, 1996; Huet and Saussier, 2003), or agency theory (Guasch, Laffont and Straub, 2003). The development of partnerships with the private sector has emerged as a key element in implementing public policies and programs.

However, we have gone one-step ahead and citizens get involved in public decisions and manage some public services. Government may be seen as providing public goods and services as a result of market failure, but sometimes government do not deliver those goods either. Buchanan in 1979 has said that government failures occur when government is inefficient in the production of public goods. In such cases, private agents can provide services on their own or with the support of the public sector. In planned communities in

Two Ways of New Towns Development: A Tale of Two Cities 223

political parties that can take policy decisions depending on their ideology or can have electoral or party motivations. Developed through the case study, the theory of an involvement community follows from the actions citizens take in the pursuit of specific goals. In the Spanish case only in the first period before the New town becomes independent

Osborne and Gaebler (1992) discuss how community members can add special knowledge and experience. They quote John McKnight of Northwestern University, who feels that communities, since they are closer to their problems, are better able to understand and address them. Defining community is difficult because people live and work in different locations, often crossing jurisdictional boundaries, but a sense of belonging, as several theorists have emphasized, provides a reason for action (Etzioni, 2004; Sandel, 1998; Taylor, 1989) and organization. This kind of organizational process is important because community

Involvement is the product of identification with and a feeling of belonging to a place where one lives peacefully. People want to give back to their community, and for that reason, they volunteer to be elected as representatives of their villages or neighbourhoods. According to Steven Ames (1998) a community can better understand the values of its citizens and use them as a basis for planning by identifying the trends and forces that affect the community, articulating a vision to guide short-term decisions and long-term initiatives, and developing

In US model, the developer is not alone in providing public goods or government; neighbours elect the community association's board of directors, which represents them. The association, in turn, provides some public goods. In such a town, local government control involves economic development, population settlement and environmental protection. The private company that builds the town lays down some rules, or covenants, based in contract law. The regulation set up by either a strong homeowner's association or a contracting company may be quite extensive and detailed. Rules may determine what colors you can paint the exterior of your home, the maximum length your grass can be or what exactly you can put in your front yard for display purposes. Restrictions may also exist on building additions, adding a front or back deck or a shed in the backyard. Potential buyers do well to ask about fees laws and stipulations. Membership in the homeowner's

In the European model as developer is the State he is the one that provides public goods. Neighbours only take part after the development of the New town when they start to life on it. They create associations to solve different problems that appear or to demand services that they start to need as transportation, schools or health centres. They also get involved in the segregation of the New town creating a political party and becoming part of the governance of the city that they belong. This makes them take part of political decisions and from inside ask for their city segregation. Cook (1975) notes that citizen participation can legitimize a programme or an action. To legitimize can often mean the difference between success and failure of community efforts. Delegate decisions to others, normally politicians will not always be in the best interest of those for that reason sometimes it is important

community associations are heavily involved after that appear political parties.

members have key information needed to implement plans and public policy.

association, with fees and participation in meetings, may also be required.

tools to achieve its vision.

citizen involvement.

US, where private companies have developed a town, developers take over a significant number of roles traditionally played by government. They build roads, streets, sewage system, and provide other services normally associated with government.

Foldvary (1994) says that in cities where government provides goods and collect taxes the owners of the land are free riders, but in New Towns, where goods are provided by the site owner or by an association, free riders vanish because users pay for the services they get. We must add that since private companies develop New towns in US, they have planning and governance structures that differ from those of regular towns. Developers perform a quasigovernmental role: developing the initial and ongoing master plan, administering private development controls, setting up neighbourhood associations to maintain common areas, working to attract employers and retailers, and initiating the formation of local and specialized governments. Public goods provided by private communities include the public good of governance itself. This model is common to most of the New Towns in United States.

Proper functioning of any municipality requires community infrastructure ranging from parks, schools, museums, hospitals, libraries, and police and fire stations to water and sewage systems. A good master plan integrates these facilities into the community in a useful and aesthetic way. The elements of such a plan are varied and complex. Members of the community, government and business must come together in a cooperative way to determine both the current needs of the area and the demands of anticipated and desired growth. A well thought out and executed plan will help to ensure the well-being of residents, attract business, stimulate job creation and bring about a pleasing community in which to live and work.

Who should be involved in policymaking and implementation is a core question in public policy and public management. Feldman (2007) explain three models that describe relationships between actors in the policymaking process: the political oversight, expertise and direct public participation models. The first model describes the relationship between the politician and the public manager (Harris, 1964; Wood and Waterman, 1991). The public elects politicians and makes its wishes known through elections. The primary concern is how to make sure that public managers fulfill those mandates (Calvert et al., 1987; McNollgast et al., 1999). In the expertise model (Fiedrich, 1935; Rourke, 1986), certified knowledge is provided by skilled individuals, many of whom hold positions in government agencies, but some of whom may work as university teachers or in other research and training organizations. In this model, experts provide information to politicians who actually make policy.

The third model is based in the planning discipline and includes people directly impacted by planning practices (Arnstein, 1971; Burke, 1968). In this model, public managers create opportunities for public participation, deliberation and decision making (Box, 1998; Heifetz & Sinder, 1990). Public participation is thought to enhance the quality of the public policy process.

In this chapter, we will see through the cases that citizen involvement is important even if funding comes from a private company (US model) or from the Government (European model). In both cases, we will find what I call an "involvement community", where people and organizations are involved in a process of making and implementing policy during the development of the New town and after it. In the US model there are no politicians and

US, where private companies have developed a town, developers take over a significant number of roles traditionally played by government. They build roads, streets, sewage

Foldvary (1994) says that in cities where government provides goods and collect taxes the owners of the land are free riders, but in New Towns, where goods are provided by the site owner or by an association, free riders vanish because users pay for the services they get. We must add that since private companies develop New towns in US, they have planning and governance structures that differ from those of regular towns. Developers perform a quasigovernmental role: developing the initial and ongoing master plan, administering private development controls, setting up neighbourhood associations to maintain common areas, working to attract employers and retailers, and initiating the formation of local and specialized governments. Public goods provided by private communities include the public good of

governance itself. This model is common to most of the New Towns in United States.

which to live and work.

actually make policy.

process.

Proper functioning of any municipality requires community infrastructure ranging from parks, schools, museums, hospitals, libraries, and police and fire stations to water and sewage systems. A good master plan integrates these facilities into the community in a useful and aesthetic way. The elements of such a plan are varied and complex. Members of the community, government and business must come together in a cooperative way to determine both the current needs of the area and the demands of anticipated and desired growth. A well thought out and executed plan will help to ensure the well-being of residents, attract business, stimulate job creation and bring about a pleasing community in

Who should be involved in policymaking and implementation is a core question in public policy and public management. Feldman (2007) explain three models that describe relationships between actors in the policymaking process: the political oversight, expertise and direct public participation models. The first model describes the relationship between the politician and the public manager (Harris, 1964; Wood and Waterman, 1991). The public elects politicians and makes its wishes known through elections. The primary concern is how to make sure that public managers fulfill those mandates (Calvert et al., 1987; McNollgast et al., 1999). In the expertise model (Fiedrich, 1935; Rourke, 1986), certified knowledge is provided by skilled individuals, many of whom hold positions in government agencies, but some of whom may work as university teachers or in other research and training organizations. In this model, experts provide information to politicians who

The third model is based in the planning discipline and includes people directly impacted by planning practices (Arnstein, 1971; Burke, 1968). In this model, public managers create opportunities for public participation, deliberation and decision making (Box, 1998; Heifetz & Sinder, 1990). Public participation is thought to enhance the quality of the public policy

In this chapter, we will see through the cases that citizen involvement is important even if funding comes from a private company (US model) or from the Government (European model). In both cases, we will find what I call an "involvement community", where people and organizations are involved in a process of making and implementing policy during the development of the New town and after it. In the US model there are no politicians and

system, and provide other services normally associated with government.

political parties that can take policy decisions depending on their ideology or can have electoral or party motivations. Developed through the case study, the theory of an involvement community follows from the actions citizens take in the pursuit of specific goals. In the Spanish case only in the first period before the New town becomes independent community associations are heavily involved after that appear political parties.

Osborne and Gaebler (1992) discuss how community members can add special knowledge and experience. They quote John McKnight of Northwestern University, who feels that communities, since they are closer to their problems, are better able to understand and address them. Defining community is difficult because people live and work in different locations, often crossing jurisdictional boundaries, but a sense of belonging, as several theorists have emphasized, provides a reason for action (Etzioni, 2004; Sandel, 1998; Taylor, 1989) and organization. This kind of organizational process is important because community members have key information needed to implement plans and public policy.

Involvement is the product of identification with and a feeling of belonging to a place where one lives peacefully. People want to give back to their community, and for that reason, they volunteer to be elected as representatives of their villages or neighbourhoods. According to Steven Ames (1998) a community can better understand the values of its citizens and use them as a basis for planning by identifying the trends and forces that affect the community, articulating a vision to guide short-term decisions and long-term initiatives, and developing tools to achieve its vision.

In US model, the developer is not alone in providing public goods or government; neighbours elect the community association's board of directors, which represents them. The association, in turn, provides some public goods. In such a town, local government control involves economic development, population settlement and environmental protection. The private company that builds the town lays down some rules, or covenants, based in contract law. The regulation set up by either a strong homeowner's association or a contracting company may be quite extensive and detailed. Rules may determine what colors you can paint the exterior of your home, the maximum length your grass can be or what exactly you can put in your front yard for display purposes. Restrictions may also exist on building additions, adding a front or back deck or a shed in the backyard. Potential buyers do well to ask about fees laws and stipulations. Membership in the homeowner's association, with fees and participation in meetings, may also be required.

In the European model as developer is the State he is the one that provides public goods. Neighbours only take part after the development of the New town when they start to life on it. They create associations to solve different problems that appear or to demand services that they start to need as transportation, schools or health centres. They also get involved in the segregation of the New town creating a political party and becoming part of the governance of the city that they belong. This makes them take part of political decisions and from inside ask for their city segregation. Cook (1975) notes that citizen participation can legitimize a programme or an action. To legitimize can often mean the difference between success and failure of community efforts. Delegate decisions to others, normally politicians will not always be in the best interest of those for that reason sometimes it is important citizen involvement.

Two Ways of New Towns Development: A Tale of Two Cities 225

roads, etc.). The finance of the corporation is public and its funds come from the National Loans Fund. Those loans have a return of at least 50 years and an interest rate fixed in the moment of concession. They return the loan with revenues from sells and rents. In France

New towns committee estimates that ideal city size might be between 30.000 and 50.000 inhabitants even thought some New towns had almost 250.000. Their dream was that citizens in New towns or at least most of them could work in the same city avoiding commuting. In 1946, enacted "New Town Act" this law suffers some modifications in 1959, 1965, 1968 and 1976 and is the law that establishes the rules of New towns. This law is considered the most complete not only in England but also in other European countries. In England a New town localization is decide by the Secretary of Estate together with the local authority. They create a public corporation for any New town built. Once they designated the area, this corporation starts to act; it buys the land and plan where commerce, industry and houses must be. It is who built all the infrastructures (water supplies, electricity, roads, etc.). Its funding is public and money might be sanction by the Parliament. It comes from the "National Loans Fund". In none of those New towns in England they have succeeded with the ideal concept because in all the cases more than half of population work out of the city and some of them have more

than 250.000 inhabitants or less than 3.000 and have become suburbs of the main city.

houses, industries and commerce but always under EPA's supervision.

**2.2 United states model** 

quantity of services, they have become an attraction for middle class citizens.

If we look at France they have a similar urban planning program of New towns, it is called "Nouvelles villes". Central government made the decision of building, location and funding of the New town. There are only two differences from the English model, the first one is that in France there is no corporation and there are different authorities that have the competence on the New town. For building a New town, they create an agency called "Etablissement Public d'Amenegement" (EPA). A board of directors manages the public organization that is composed by seven members of local administrations (town halls and regions) and for seven from central administration. For that reason, there are usually conflicts between central and local administrations. The second one is that EPA sells the land to private firms and those built

As in the English case those New towns became employment generators although this employment mostly belongs to service sector particularly commerce and offices. We have to say that most of those New towns are not self-sufficient but as they have good quality and

In the early history of America, Planned Communities were quite common. Jamestowne, Philadelphia, Williamsburg, Annapolis and Washington, D.C., are examples of this trend. The subsequent development of the United States, however, made planned cities both impractical and unpopular. It was not until the twentieth century that the New Town idea was revived. New Towns in US had appeared in the 1920's from the Regional Planning Association of America. Following the example of British Garden Cities, Radburn, New Jersey, was begun in 1929. It was built in order to give houses to low income workers. It was followed by government sponsored "greenbelt" towns: Greenhills, Ohio; Greendale, Wisconsin; and Greenbelt, Maryland. The economic crisis and the II World War paralyse the construction of new towns. After World War II, Park Forest, Illinois joined the list of

and Spain, they follow this model with small variations, as we will see.

### **2.1 European model**

England and later on France were the promoters of New towns and urban development in Europe. Also at the end of nineteen century, Cerdà with his urban extension in Barcelona (Spain) and Arturo Soria with his idea of the linear city are pioneers in urban development. For that reason, we are going to talk about England and France as European models.

As we have said it has been Ebenezer Howard the pioneer of New Towns planning. In 1898, Howard publishes his book "Tomorrow: a peaceful path to real reform". Even though he wrote that book, his most famous one is "Garden cities of tomorrow" (1902).

In 1889 Howard and other people created the Garden City Association in England. The Garden Cities and Town Planning Association had defined a garden city as "a town designed for healthy living and industry of a size that makes possible a full measure of social life but not larger, surrounded by a rural belt; the whole of the land being in public ownership, or held in trust for the community".

In 1902 some executive register the first firm "Garden city pioneer company" that acquires some land located 55 km north of London (1.546 Hes.) and they started building in 1903 the first city following Howard model, this city was Letchworth. Actually, it has 33.000 inhabitants. Welwyn garden city (also located north of London) was built in 1920 and is the second new town in England. Those two new towns were built without public support; they received money from private firms and investors.

From the economic crisis in 1929, it began the necessity of finding a regional policy more coherent that distributes industry in a rational way. For that reason, they start to think again in the garden city. They start to think that it should be created a national urban planning and in 1937, they created Barlow Commission that published the report called: "Report of the Royal Commission on the Distribution of the Industrial Population". Barrow did not recommended New Towns but he said that it should be a good idea to establish a new territorial planning where industry, commerce and population could life together in harmony.

However, New towns in England have its big significance after Second World War and it is related to city and social reconstruction. During this period it has been built almost 4 million houses because during war were destroyed a lot of them. As a first time public administration built almost all the houses but they did it without any planning, they did not follow Howard's theory.

These promotions were carrying out by local authorities and private firms. However, it was after the II World War when New Towns, in UK, have started their development and become more closely related with the concept of national regional policy. New Towns started to belong to a planning strategy in the United Kingdom. Even if it does not exists a unique model they are, understand to clear big cities or to be the centre of a region in order to arrange a territorial division or revitalize a depraved zone. In 1946 appears New Towns Act, this Law with some adjustments (consecutive laws in 1959, 1965, 1968, 1976 and 1981) is still in force and constitute the legal basis of the actual program of new towns. Legally, the Secretary of State decides location of a new town. They created a public corporation that has the function of developing the new town. Once the area is designate, this corporation buys the land (also if they need to expropriate the land), design the distribution of the residential, the commercial and the industrial areas, the basic infrastructures (water, telephone, light,

England and later on France were the promoters of New towns and urban development in Europe. Also at the end of nineteen century, Cerdà with his urban extension in Barcelona (Spain) and Arturo Soria with his idea of the linear city are pioneers in urban development.

As we have said it has been Ebenezer Howard the pioneer of New Towns planning. In 1898, Howard publishes his book "Tomorrow: a peaceful path to real reform". Even though he

In 1889 Howard and other people created the Garden City Association in England. The Garden Cities and Town Planning Association had defined a garden city as "a town designed for healthy living and industry of a size that makes possible a full measure of social life but not larger, surrounded by a rural belt; the whole of the land being in public

In 1902 some executive register the first firm "Garden city pioneer company" that acquires some land located 55 km north of London (1.546 Hes.) and they started building in 1903 the first city following Howard model, this city was Letchworth. Actually, it has 33.000 inhabitants. Welwyn garden city (also located north of London) was built in 1920 and is the second new town in England. Those two new towns were built without public support; they

From the economic crisis in 1929, it began the necessity of finding a regional policy more coherent that distributes industry in a rational way. For that reason, they start to think again in the garden city. They start to think that it should be created a national urban planning and in 1937, they created Barlow Commission that published the report called: "Report of the Royal Commission on the Distribution of the Industrial Population". Barrow did not recommended New Towns but he said that it should be a good idea to establish a new territorial planning

However, New towns in England have its big significance after Second World War and it is related to city and social reconstruction. During this period it has been built almost 4 million houses because during war were destroyed a lot of them. As a first time public administration built almost all the houses but they did it without any planning, they did not

These promotions were carrying out by local authorities and private firms. However, it was after the II World War when New Towns, in UK, have started their development and become more closely related with the concept of national regional policy. New Towns started to belong to a planning strategy in the United Kingdom. Even if it does not exists a unique model they are, understand to clear big cities or to be the centre of a region in order to arrange a territorial division or revitalize a depraved zone. In 1946 appears New Towns Act, this Law with some adjustments (consecutive laws in 1959, 1965, 1968, 1976 and 1981) is still in force and constitute the legal basis of the actual program of new towns. Legally, the Secretary of State decides location of a new town. They created a public corporation that has the function of developing the new town. Once the area is designate, this corporation buys the land (also if they need to expropriate the land), design the distribution of the residential, the commercial and the industrial areas, the basic infrastructures (water, telephone, light,

For that reason, we are going to talk about England and France as European models.

wrote that book, his most famous one is "Garden cities of tomorrow" (1902).

where industry, commerce and population could life together in harmony.

ownership, or held in trust for the community".

received money from private firms and investors.

follow Howard's theory.

**2.1 European model** 

roads, etc.). The finance of the corporation is public and its funds come from the National Loans Fund. Those loans have a return of at least 50 years and an interest rate fixed in the moment of concession. They return the loan with revenues from sells and rents. In France and Spain, they follow this model with small variations, as we will see.

New towns committee estimates that ideal city size might be between 30.000 and 50.000 inhabitants even thought some New towns had almost 250.000. Their dream was that citizens in New towns or at least most of them could work in the same city avoiding commuting. In 1946, enacted "New Town Act" this law suffers some modifications in 1959, 1965, 1968 and 1976 and is the law that establishes the rules of New towns. This law is considered the most complete not only in England but also in other European countries. In England a New town localization is decide by the Secretary of Estate together with the local authority. They create a public corporation for any New town built. Once they designated the area, this corporation starts to act; it buys the land and plan where commerce, industry and houses must be. It is who built all the infrastructures (water supplies, electricity, roads, etc.). Its funding is public and money might be sanction by the Parliament. It comes from the "National Loans Fund". In none of those New towns in England they have succeeded with the ideal concept because in all the cases more than half of population work out of the city and some of them have more than 250.000 inhabitants or less than 3.000 and have become suburbs of the main city.

If we look at France they have a similar urban planning program of New towns, it is called "Nouvelles villes". Central government made the decision of building, location and funding of the New town. There are only two differences from the English model, the first one is that in France there is no corporation and there are different authorities that have the competence on the New town. For building a New town, they create an agency called "Etablissement Public d'Amenegement" (EPA). A board of directors manages the public organization that is composed by seven members of local administrations (town halls and regions) and for seven from central administration. For that reason, there are usually conflicts between central and local administrations. The second one is that EPA sells the land to private firms and those built houses, industries and commerce but always under EPA's supervision.

As in the English case those New towns became employment generators although this employment mostly belongs to service sector particularly commerce and offices. We have to say that most of those New towns are not self-sufficient but as they have good quality and quantity of services, they have become an attraction for middle class citizens.

#### **2.2 United states model**

In the early history of America, Planned Communities were quite common. Jamestowne, Philadelphia, Williamsburg, Annapolis and Washington, D.C., are examples of this trend. The subsequent development of the United States, however, made planned cities both impractical and unpopular. It was not until the twentieth century that the New Town idea was revived. New Towns in US had appeared in the 1920's from the Regional Planning Association of America. Following the example of British Garden Cities, Radburn, New Jersey, was begun in 1929. It was built in order to give houses to low income workers. It was followed by government sponsored "greenbelt" towns: Greenhills, Ohio; Greendale, Wisconsin; and Greenbelt, Maryland. The economic crisis and the II World War paralyse the construction of new towns. After World War II, Park Forest, Illinois joined the list of

Two Ways of New Towns Development: A Tale of Two Cities 227

Steven Ames (1998) a community can better understand the values of its citizens and use them as a basis for planning by identifying the trends and forces that affect the community, articulating a vision to guide short-term decisions and long-term initiatives, and developing

In my model, the developer is not alone in providing public goods or government; neighbours elect the community association's board of directors, which represents them. The association, in turn, provides some public goods. In such a town, local government control involves economic development, population settlement and environmental protection. The private company that builds the town lays down some rules, or covenants, based in contract law. The regulation set up by either a strong homeowner's association or a contracting company may be quite extensive and detailed. Rules may determine what colors you can paint the exterior of your home, the maximum length your grass can be or what exactly you can put in your front yard for display purposes. Restrictions may also exist on building additions, adding a front or back deck or a shed in the backyard. Potential buyers do well to ask about fees laws and stipulations. Membership in the home owner's

The company and the associations also collects an assessment from residents to fund the

The Woodlands is located in the extraterritorial jurisdiction of Houston within Montgomery County in Texas. The Woodlands was built in a partnership between Mitchell Energy & Development Corporation and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). It was one of the thirteen Title VII new towns developments that received federal loan guarantees in the early 1970s. In the early 1960's George Mitchell, wildcatter, oil and real estate entrepreneur, got the idea of a master planned community that would include as many jobs as homes. He thought that the new community might be near a major city benefit from transport and have ample land for future growth. In 1964 they purchase the first land in Montgomery County but it was on September of 1972 when the construction of The Woodlands began. When opened, The Woodlands consisted of a few families living in Settlers Corner, a conference center and country club, the Information Center, The Warf shopping area, 19 model homes, 50 apartments, three office buildings and several recreational amenities. The principal activities of the Mitchell Energy and Development Corporation5 are the exploration for and production of natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude oil and condensate, operation of natural gas gathering systems and marketing of natural gas through purchase and resale activities. The Company owns or operates approximately 9,100 miles of natural gas gathering systems which are located in Texas. Gas services accounted for 68% of 2000 revenues and exploration and production, 32%. After 1955 the firm began to diversify into real estate. When George Mitchell became president, he formed Mitchell Development of the Southwest; in 1971 the business was renamed Mitchell Energy and Development Corporation. In 1974 the firm opened the Woodlands, as we have

association, with fees and participation in meetings, may also be required.

tools to achieve its vision.

public services provide by them.

**3. Case sutdies 3.1 The woodlands** 

5 A major independent producer.

American New Towns. The current era of New Town development began in 1962 with the creation of Reston, Virginia. The "new community" movement of the 1960s and 1970s attempted a grand experiment in housing. It inspired the construction of innovative communities that were designed to counter suburbia's cultural conformity, social isolation, ugliness, and environmental problems. This richly documented book examines the results of those experiments in three of the most successful new communities: Irvine Ranch in Southern California, Columbia in Maryland, and The Woodlands in the suburbs of Houston, Texas. Since that time at least thirty-eight planned communities have been developed throughout the United States. The Federal New Communities Program of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (1970-1983) sponsored thirteen of these communities.

One of the arguments of creating a new town is the creation of an attractive living environment, with a well planned housing and spatial organization. Sometimes new towns represent speculative ventures for private enterprises. It is said that more successful experiences tend to have occur in countries where the government provides long term subsides. Modern Planned Communities provide housing for a variety of income levels and allow the residents to participate in the governance of the city. There are two ways of qualification a New Town: 'independent', if they contain the employment of their own residents and 'satellite4' if there is a substantial amount of residents that commute to other metropolis.

The Woodlands was chosen one of the thirteen communities to be affected by the 1968 New Communities Act (Housing and Urban Development Title IV) as the site of a new planned community. The act, amended in 1970, provided \$18 million of a total \$294 million in federal loan guarantees for new towns. The Woodlands is a company-run town

In this paper, I have adapted the third model to a case where a public manager is replaced by a private committee to produce what I call an "involvement community", where people and organizations are involved in a process of making and implementing policy. There are no politicians and political parties that can take policy decisions depending on their ideology or can have electoral or party motivations. Developed through the case study, the theory of an involvement community follows from the actions citizens take in the pursuit of specific goals.

Osborne and Gaebler (1992) discuss how community members can add special knowledge and experience. They quote John McKnight of Northwestern University, who feels that communities, since they are closer to their problems, are better able to understand and address them. Defining community is difficult because people live and work in different locations, often crossing jurisdictional boundaries, but a sense of belonging, as several theorists have emphasized, provides a reason for action (Etzioni, 2004; Sandel, 1998; Taylor, 1989) and organization. This kind of organizational process is important because community members have key information needed to implement plans and public policy.

Involvement is the product of identification with and a feeling of belonging to a place where one lives peacefully. People want to give back to their community, and for that reason, they volunteer to be elected as representatives of their villages or neighbourhoods. According to

<sup>4</sup> Some authors use the term satellite also for those new towns which are self-contained but whose residents use some of the facilities of the cities nearby.

Steven Ames (1998) a community can better understand the values of its citizens and use them as a basis for planning by identifying the trends and forces that affect the community, articulating a vision to guide short-term decisions and long-term initiatives, and developing tools to achieve its vision.

In my model, the developer is not alone in providing public goods or government; neighbours elect the community association's board of directors, which represents them. The association, in turn, provides some public goods. In such a town, local government control involves economic development, population settlement and environmental protection. The private company that builds the town lays down some rules, or covenants, based in contract law. The regulation set up by either a strong homeowner's association or a contracting company may be quite extensive and detailed. Rules may determine what colors you can paint the exterior of your home, the maximum length your grass can be or what exactly you can put in your front yard for display purposes. Restrictions may also exist on building additions, adding a front or back deck or a shed in the backyard. Potential buyers do well to ask about fees laws and stipulations. Membership in the home owner's association, with fees and participation in meetings, may also be required.

The company and the associations also collects an assessment from residents to fund the public services provide by them.
