British colonial civic improvement in the early twentieth century: E. P. Richards in Madras, Calcutta, and Singapore. (1st October 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Home, Robert
• Is Part Of: Planning perspectives. Volume 31:Number 4(2016)
• Page Start: 635
• Page End: 644
• Publication Date: 2016-10-01
• Subjects: Calcutta Improvement Trust -- Edwin Richards -- town planning -- Singapore Improvement Trust -- Derwent Valley Water Board -- Birchinlee tin town; City planning -- Periodicals; Land use -- Planning -- Periodicals; Planning -- Periodicals; 711.09005
• DOI: 10.1080/02665433.2016.1185961
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0266-5433

Abstract

Abstract : E. P. Richards' Calcutta report of 1914 has been reprinted as a key text in planning history, but little is known of the man himself, compared with other planners active in the British colonies during the early twentieth century such as Geddes and Reade. This article seeks to rescue Richards from obscurity, and position him in the context of the new town planning movement in the first quarter of the twentieth century. A basic narrative of Richards' career, taken mainly from his membership records and obituary at the Institute of Civil Engineers' headquarters in London, covers his key periods with the Derwent Valley Water Board (working on the Birchinlee model village) and the Calcutta and Singapore Improvement Trusts between 1901 and 1924.