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Author:

Walker, Nathaniel Robert, author.

Title:

Victorian visions of suburban utopia : abandoning Babylon / Nathaniel Robert Walker.

Edition:

First edition.

Publisher:

Oxford University Press,

Copyright Date:

2020

Description:

xvi, 557 pages, 20 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 24 cm

Subject:

Utopias in literature.
Utopias--History--19th century.
Suburbs--Philosophy.
Cities and towns--History--19th century.
Suburbs in literature.
Cities and towns in literature.
Utopias in literature.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents:

Conclusion: "And was Jerusalem builded here?" 7. "God Made the Country, Man Made the Town": The Foundations of Modern Suburban Utopias -- 2. Socialist Schemes and Suburban Dreams -- 3. Urban Non-Fiction and Suburban Science Fiction -- 4. Empires of Hygiene and Horror -- 5. Republic of the Future -- 6. Architecture Under Nationalism -- 7. Gardening in the Apocalypse. -- Conclusion: "And was Jerusalem builded here?"

Summary:

The rise of suburbs and the disinvestment from cities have been defining features of life in many countries over the course of the twentieth century, especially English-speaking countries. The separation of different aspects of life, such as living and working, and the diffusion of the population in far-flung garden homes have necessitated the enormous consumption of natural lands and the constant use of mechanized transportation. Why did we abandon our dense, complex urban places and seek to find 'the best of the city and the country' in the flowery suburbs? Looking back at the architecture and urban design of the 1800s offers some answers, but a missing piece in the story is found in Victorian utopian literature. The replacement of cities with high-tech suburbs was repeatedly imagined and breathlessly described in the socialist dreams and science-fiction fantasies of dozens of British and American authors. Some of these visionaries-such as Robert Owen, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Edward Bellamy, William Morris, Ebenezer Howard, and H.G. Wells-are enduringly famous, while others were street vendors or amateur chemists who have been all but forgotten. Together, they fashioned strange and beautiful imaginary worlds built of synthetic gemstones, lacy metal colonnades, and unbreakable glass, staffed by robotic servants and teeming with flying carriages. As different as their futuristic visions could be, however, most of them were unified by a single, desperate plea: for humanity to have a future worth living, we must abandon our smoky, poor, chaotic Babylonian cities for a life in shimmering gardens.

ISBN:

9780198861447
0198861443

OCLC:

(OCoLC)1157451512

Locations:

OVUX522 -- University of Iowa Libraries (Iowa City)