Foundations: How the Built Environment Made Twentieth-Century Britain

The book Foundations: An Urban History of Modern Britain explores how the built environment shaped the politics, economy, and society of twentieth-century Britain, leading to the formation of a midcentury developmental state and the rise of neoliberalism after 1980. It shows how six different types of urban space - industrial estates, shopping precincts, council estates, private flats, shopping malls, and suburban office parks - transformed Britains politics, economy, and society.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 272 pages
Publication date: 31 January 2023
Publisher: Princeton University Press

The built environment played a significant role in shaping the politics, economy, and society of modern Britain. In the mid-twentieth century, six different types of urban spaces emerged: the industrial estate, shopping precinct, council estate, private flats, shopping mall, and suburban office park. These spaces transformed Britain's politics, economy, and society, helping to forge a midcentury developmental state and shaping the rise of neoliberalism after 1980.

Government-financed industrial estates were created to attract footloose capitalists to depressed regions of the country, providing infrastructure and opportunities for economic growth. Shopping precincts allowed politicians to plan precisely for postwar consumer demand, creating new communities and fostering consumerism. Public housing modernized domestic life and attempted to create new communities out of erstwhile strangers. However, in the latter part of the twentieth century, many of these spaces were privatized and reimagined as their developmental aims were abandoned. Industrial estates became suburban business parks, state-owned shopping precincts became private shopping malls, and council estates were securitized and enclosed.

New types of urban space were imported from American suburbia, and planners and politicians became increasingly skeptical that the built environment could remake society. With the midcentury built environment becoming obsolete, British neoliberalism emerged in tense negotiation with the awkward remains of built spaces that had to be navigated and remade.

Sam Wetherell's book, Foundations: A History of Twentieth-Century Britain, Told Through the Rise, Fall, and Reinvention of Six Different Types of Urban Space, provides a comprehensive account of how these spaces transformed Britain and contributed to the country's development. The book takes readers to almost every major British city as well as to places in the United States and Britains empire, providing a rich and detailed exploration of the role of the built environment in shaping modern Britain.

In conclusion, the built environment played a significant role in shaping the politics, economy, and society of modern Britain. From the government-financed industrial estates to the privatized shopping malls, these spaces transformed Britain's politics, economy, and society, helping to forge a midcentury developmental state and shaping the rise of neoliberalism after 1980. Sam Wetherell's book, Foundations: A History of Twentieth-Century Britain, Told Through the Rise, Fall, and Reinvention of Six Different Types of Urban Space, provides a comprehensive account of how these spaces transformed Britain and contributed to the country's development.

Weight: 448g
Dimension: 155 x 235 x 19 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780691241760