All subjects · Geography · WGE02 Geographical Investigations

Planned 'ideal' cities and eco-cities

Edexcel IAL Geography · WGE02 Geographical Investigations

Planners have long tried to design cities from scratch to avoid the problems of traditional cities. Results are mixed (spec 2.4.3, key idea 3).

Practise this in the app: instant marking and a fix for every mistake. Free, no email needed to start.

Practise this lesson

Garden cities, new towns and new capitals

Garden cities (late 19th and early 20th century England) combined the advantages of town and country: low-density homes with gardens, green belts, and planned industry and services.
New towns were built to house overspill from overcrowded cities. Milton Keynes was designated on 23 January 1967 for London overspill, with about 40,000 people at designation and a target of 250,000; it had 211,062 people in 2011 and a grid masterplan with neighbourhood centres and a green infrastructure network (TCPA). It had financial setbacks in the 1970s but became one of the UK's fastest-growing places.
New capital cities were built to shift development inland or symbolise a new nation. Brasilia was inaugurated on 21 April 1960, designed by planner Lucio Costa and architect Oscar Niemeyer. Construction workers' housing was neglected, so they built unplanned squatter settlements, and the city was criticised for cost, rushed building and failing to house the poor (EBSCO).

Eco-cities

Eco-cities aim to reduce the urban ecological footprint (transport, water use, waste and recycling) while giving a high-quality environment: car-free or low-car design, renewable energy, water recycling, compact walkable layouts and green space.

Masdar City, Abu Dhabi, broke ground in 2008 as a US$22 billion, state-funded project to be the world's most sustainable eco-city, with no cars and homes for 50,000 people. Completion was first due in 2016, then 2020, and the target date has now been shelved indefinitely. By late 2023 about 15,000 people lived or worked there, but only about a third were residents. Its track-based driverless pods proved less useful than electric scooters, bikes and autonomous vehicles. Its narrow streets are oriented to channel the prevailing north-westerly breeze, and its early buildings used about 40% less energy (Associated Press, December 2023). Eco-cities remain few, expensive and often occupied by wealthier groups.

How successful are planned cities?

Judge success against the problems they were meant to solve (June 2024 mark scheme for an 8-mark 'assess' question):

Successes: better-quality housing, green space, planned services, less overcrowding, economic growth (Milton Keynes).
Failures: housing unaffordable to the people meant to benefit; long commutes and car dependence (low-density layouts); weak sense of community at first; poor people excluded into informal settlements (Brasilia); targets missed (Masdar).

The June 2024 examiners' report noted the strongest answers judged success by who benefited and how far problems were reduced; weaker answers wrote about regeneration in general instead of planned towns. The Getting Started Guide suggests assessing planned cities with the Egan Wheel (see the sustainable regeneration lesson).

Worked example

What percentage of its target population had Milton Keynes reached by 2011?

211,062 / 250,000 x 100
= 84.4%

Answer: About 84.4% of the 250,000 target.

Key idea: Ideal cities: garden cities, new towns (Milton Keynes 1967, target 250,000), new capitals (Brasilia 1960, workers' squatter settlements). Eco-cities (Masdar: planned for 50,000, about 5,000 residents in 2023) reduce footprints but are rare. Judge success by who benefits.

Check yourself

Milton Keynes grew from about 40,000 at designation to 211,062 in 2011. Calculate the percentage increase to the nearest whole number.
Show answer
428 %. (211,062 - 40,000) / 40,000 x 100 = 428%.
Masdar City was planned for 50,000 people. In 2023 about 15,000 people lived or worked there, and about one third of them were residents. Residents are what percentage of the 50,000 target? Give your answer to the nearest whole number.
Show answer
10 %. Residents = 15,000 / 3 = 5,000; 5,000 / 50,000 x 100 = 10%.
Why were British new towns such as Milton Keynes built?
- To create gated communities
- To reclaim land from the sea
- To replace capital cities
- To house overspill population from overcrowded cities
Show answer
To house overspill population from overcrowded cities. Milton Keynes was designated for London overspill.
Which problem emerged during the building of Brasilia?
- Construction workers built unplanned squatter settlements because their housing was neglected
- The city was never inaugurated
- It had too much affordable housing
- It was built on reclaimed land
Show answer
Construction workers built unplanned squatter settlements because their housing was neglected. Failure to house the poor produced slums (EBSCO).
The main aim of an eco-city is to
- maximise car use
- house as many people as possible at any cost
- reduce the city's ecological footprint while giving a high-quality environment
- increase waste to landfill
Show answer
reduce the city's ecological footprint while giving a high-quality environment. Transport, water, waste and energy are designed to be sustainable.
In an 'assess' question on planned towns, which approach reaches the top level?
- Judging how far social and environmental problems were reduced, and for whom
- Describing regeneration in general
- Listing planned towns without comment
- Writing only about one building
Show answer
Judging how far social and environmental problems were reduced, and for whom. June 2024 examiners' report.
Explain why planned new towns may fail to solve social problems.
Show answer
Homes may become too expensive for the low-income people they were meant for, and low-density layouts lead to car dependence and long commutes, while new communities can lack a sense of identity at first.. Affordability, transport, community.

Practise with instant feedback

Sources

Last updated 8 November 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.