The Declaration was proposed to the conference by former Letchworth Mayor Philip Ross and was supported by the following speakers,
The Declaration can be read here and signed there too, It is garnering support from an alliance of planning professionals, academics, architects and community activists.
It proposes the creation of a New Garden Cities Alliance that will safeguard the garden city brand by bring clarity and certainty to the definition of what a garden city is.
Philip Ross told the conference : '
"There is political agreement that garden cities should be
community-led and that is to be welcomed.
I believe too that the definition of the garden city needs
to be community led.
No one trusts the government to do, they don’t the
developers to do. They need a promise, a
social contract – to put their faith and trust in.
We need to come together forge that social contract, that
promise, through a shared definition of what a garden city is. In doing so we
can provide clarity and certainty to both the public and to developers and
government".