1941-06-06 — Page 39

THE CHINA MAİL, JUNE 6, 1941.

CHINA MAIL

"WINDSOR HOUSE

PLANNING THE FUTURE

Town-planning was an important civic art in Greece and Rome, but when the Industrial Revolution was changing the face and structure of Britain nobody troubled about it. Wordsworth said that the invention of the steam-engine was blessing, because mills, no longer dependent upon water power, could now be built in ugly towns in- stead of spoiling the charm and peace 01 valleys. It was assumed, that the new towns must

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be ugly. This was a con- sequence of our social his-

tory. The all-powerful aristocracy of the eigh- teenth century lived in: the country and lavished its taste on the care and decoration of its mansions: and its parks. City life. so brisk and picturesque in the Middle Ages, had steadily declined. Con- sequently, at the time of the Industrial Revolution there was no strong city] tradition such as had in- spired Florence or Bruges or Coventry in the Middle Ages or Smyrna or Corinth! în classical times. Hence

Cater

CRETE

GREECE