Milk, honey and imposition: the development of the suburb and its influence on the urban growth of the Lower Hutt Valley

Abstract

This report deals with the social construct of suburbia. As a subset of the city, it is defined by its withdrawal from urban culture, while still being linked by rail, road and telecommunications to the economic and cultural powerhouse of that cultures core. The suburb was born out of the evangelical movement's reaction to London's eighteenth century city landscape. This reaction was quickly adopted as a role model for developments throughout Britain and America. The original message of the evangelists continued through the reiteration of their physical form. Escape, exclusion and conformity were perpetuated. In New Zealand these intentions have also been reiterated. The modelling of our suburbs upon the developments in Britain and America has imposed their social values and spatial relationships. The Lower Hutt Valley's attempts suburban utopia were built on their precedents vision of the land of Milk and Honey. In the Hutt suburbia exists by planning and design, as distinct to suburbia by social intent.