Poundbury
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England /
Dorchester /
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Poundbury is an experimental new town — or more correctly a new village — on the outskirts of Dorchester in the county of Dorset, England.
The village is built on land owned by the Duchy of Cornwall, and is an experiment of the ideas of Charles, Prince of Wales, who has challenged the post-war trends in town planning. The Prince is known for holding strong views on recent urban planning and architecture.
The village is built to a traditional high-density urban pattern, rather than a suburban one, focused on creating an integrated community of shops, businesses, and private and social housing; there is no zoning. The planners say they are designing the village around the people rather than the car and claim to be providing a high-quality environment from the architecture through to the selection of materials, to the signposts, and the landscaping. To avoid constant construction, utilities are buried in common utility ducts under the town. Common areas are maintained by a management company to which all residents belong.
To some degree, the project shows similarities with the contemporary New Urbanism movement, primarily found in the United States, except that the design influences are, of course, European. The design of the houses tends to be traditional, with period features such as bricked-up windows, a feature found on many old British buildings, due to the window tax.
The overall plan was developed in the late 1980s by the European architect Leon Krier, and construction started in October 1993. Krier's plans have been criticised for mixing too many different continental styles and the use of non-local building materials, which are not consistent with the traditions of Dorchester. It is expected that the four plan phases will be developed over 25 years with a total of 2,500 dwellings and a population of about 6,000. Greetings card entrepreneur Andrew Brownsword sponsored the £1 million development of the market hall at Poundbury, designed by John Simpson and based on early designs, particularly the one in Tetbury.[1]
Following New Urbanist principles, Poundbury was supposed to reduce car dependency and encourage walking, cycling and public transport. However, a survey conducted at the end of the first phase, showed that car use was higher in Poundbury than in the surrounding (rural) district of West Dorset.[
The village is built on land owned by the Duchy of Cornwall, and is an experiment of the ideas of Charles, Prince of Wales, who has challenged the post-war trends in town planning. The Prince is known for holding strong views on recent urban planning and architecture.
The village is built to a traditional high-density urban pattern, rather than a suburban one, focused on creating an integrated community of shops, businesses, and private and social housing; there is no zoning. The planners say they are designing the village around the people rather than the car and claim to be providing a high-quality environment from the architecture through to the selection of materials, to the signposts, and the landscaping. To avoid constant construction, utilities are buried in common utility ducts under the town. Common areas are maintained by a management company to which all residents belong.
To some degree, the project shows similarities with the contemporary New Urbanism movement, primarily found in the United States, except that the design influences are, of course, European. The design of the houses tends to be traditional, with period features such as bricked-up windows, a feature found on many old British buildings, due to the window tax.
The overall plan was developed in the late 1980s by the European architect Leon Krier, and construction started in October 1993. Krier's plans have been criticised for mixing too many different continental styles and the use of non-local building materials, which are not consistent with the traditions of Dorchester. It is expected that the four plan phases will be developed over 25 years with a total of 2,500 dwellings and a population of about 6,000. Greetings card entrepreneur Andrew Brownsword sponsored the £1 million development of the market hall at Poundbury, designed by John Simpson and based on early designs, particularly the one in Tetbury.[1]
Following New Urbanist principles, Poundbury was supposed to reduce car dependency and encourage walking, cycling and public transport. However, a survey conducted at the end of the first phase, showed that car use was higher in Poundbury than in the surrounding (rural) district of West Dorset.[
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poundbury
Nearby cities:
Coordinates: 50°42'46"N 2°27'53"W
- Charminster 3.3 km
- Wool 16 km
- Burton Bradstock 19 km
- Bothenhampton 21 km
- West Bay 22 km
- Northport 24 km
- Organford 26 km
- Milford-on-Sea 60 km
- Totland Parish 62 km
- Cranmore 71 km
- Rainbarrow Farm 1.3 km
- Clandon Farm 1.9 km
- Maiden Castle 2 km
- Bradford Down Farm 2.8 km
- Church Farm 3.1 km
- Hardy Country Park, (Formerly Morngate) 3.4 km
- North Hill Plantation 4.1 km
- Rew Hill 4.2 km
- Chesil Beach 13 km
- Dorset 14 km
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