Radburn Layout

INTRODUCTION
Henry Wright and Clarence Stein introduced the

superblock here, ranging from thirty to fifty acres in size.
Radburn had been conceived by Stein and Wright to
house 25,000 people.
An open space based residential planning.
Its famously a bold departure from traditional street
oriented suburban neighbourhood planning in U.S.
Size of 149 acres, includes 430 single family homes, 90
row houses, 54 semi-attached houses and a 93
apartment unit, as well as a shopping center, parks and
amenities.
EMERGENCE OF RADBURN PLANNING.
Inspired by the garden city idea, the city housing
corporation of new york acquired a vacant site in new
jersey within commuting distance of new york city for the
community of radburn.
The industrialization of the United States after World War I
led to a dramatic growth of the cities during the 1920's.
Population shift led to a severe housing shortage.
The automobile, becoming a mainstay in American life,
added a new problem to urban living.
In answer to the needs of modern society, Radburn, the

Town for the Motor Age was created in 1929.
EXTEND OF RADBURN LAYOUT
The boundaries of this community were to be the Saddle

River on the east
The Erie Railroad on the west,
the Glen Rock border on the north, and
Saddle Brook Township on the south.
The Old Mill, now part of the Bergen County Park System,
was to be the entrance of this new city.
• The Depression pushed the builder, City Housing Corporation, into

bankruptcy.
• For this reason, Radburn could not expand beyond its present size of
149 acres
Henry Wright's "Six Planks for a
Housing Platform".
His planks were:
Plan simply, but comprehensively.
Don't stop at the individual property line.
Adjust paving, sidewalks, sewers and the like to the particular
needs of the property dealt with - not to a conventional pattern.
Arrange buildings and grounds so as to give sunlight and air to
even the smallest and cheapest house.
Provide ample sites in the right places

for community use
Playgrounds, school gardens, schools, theatres, churches, public
buildings and stores.
factories and other industrial buildings

Put them where they can be used without wasteful transportation
of goods or people.
Planning for car
Cars must be parked and stored, deliveries made, waste
collected
Plan for such services with a minimum of danger, noise
and confusion.
Private n public land relationship

• plan buildings and groups of buildings with relation to
each other.
• Develop collectively such services as will add to the
comfort of the individual, at lower cost than is possible
under individual operation.
occupancy of houses
Arrange for the occupancy of houses on a fair basis of
cost and service,
Including the cost of what needs to be done in organizing,
building and maintaining the community.
innovations of Radburn
Separation of pedestrian and vehicular traffic
This was accomplished by doing away with the traditional grid-iron street
pattern and replacing it with an innovation called the superblock.
What is a superblock?
• The superblock is a large block of land surrounded by main roads.
• The houses are grouped around small cul-de-sacs, each of which has
an access road coming from the main roads.
• The remaining land inside the superblock is park area, the backbone
of the neighborhood.
• The living and sleeping sections of the houses face toward the garden
and park areas, while the service rooms face the access road.
• The walks that surround the cul-de-sacs on the garden side of the
houses divide the cu-de-sacs from each other and from the central
park area.
• These paths cross the park when necessary.
• Finally, to further maintain the separation of pedestrian and vehicular

traffic, a pedestrian underpass and an overpass, linking the superblocks,
were provided.
• The system was so devised that a pedestrian could start at any given point
and proceed on foot to school, stores or church without crossing a street
used by automobiles.
the parks were secured without additional cost
to the residents.
The savings in expenditures for roads and public utilities at
Radburn, as contrasted with the normal subdivision, paid for the
parks.
The Radburn type of plan requires less area of street to secure
the same amount of frontage.
In addition, for direct access to most houses, it used narrower
roads of less expensive construction, as well as smaller utility
lines.
In fact, the area in streets and length of utilities is 25% less than
in the typical American street.
(the usual plan has 11,800 lineal feet of streets while the modified plan has 10720
lineal feet)
The savings in cost not only paid for 12 - 14% of the total area
that went into internal parks, but also covered the cost of
grading and landscaping the play spaces and green links
connecting the central block commons.
Model of a superblock
Open green area
Cross over road

Artirial roads
Planning of radburn
The street plan formed a pattern of

rectangular blocks divided into
rectangular lots that were usually very
narrow to conserve on utility lines and
very deep to conserve on streets.
The curvilinear design was then revised to give some

resemblance of character to the subdivision to subdue to
deadly monotony of parallel streets stretching to infinity.
When parking is desired on each side of the street, the right

of way is between 54-64 feet wide, pavement width 36 feet.
It suggests parking on one side only since the traffic lanes

should not be less than 10 feet wide.
CUL-DE-SAC AND THE LOOP STREET
•The Cul-de-sac, Or Dead-end Street, Came Into Use To
Eliminate Through Traffic In A Positive Manner.
•Cul-de-sac Terminate In A Circular To Retain Their Inherent

Advantages, They Should Be Short-a Maximum Length Of 450
Feet Is Recommended.
•Long Cul-de-sacs, Induce Accelerated Traffic Speeds And

Render Access For Service And Fire Protection More
Complicated.
•It Eliminates The Necessity For The Turnaround And Provides

The Continuous Circulation That Is Required By Some
Communities To Assure No Interference With The Accessibility
Of Fire Protection And Other Services.
LAYOUT OF HOUSING UNITS
The houses were oriented in
reverse of the conventional
placement on the lot.
Kitchens and garages faced the

road, living rooms and bedrooms
turned toward the garden.
Pathways provided uninterrupted

pedestrian access to a continuous
park strip, which led to large
common open spaces within the
center of the superblock.

Radburn Layout

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INTRODUCTION

Henry Wright and Clarence Stein introduced the

In answer to the needs of modern society, Radburn, the

The boundaries of this community were to be the Saddle

The Erie Railroad on the west,

the Glen Rock border on the north, and

Saddle Brook Township on the south.

• The Depression pushed the builder, City Housing Corporation, into

Provide ample sites in the right places

factories and other industrial buildings

Private n public land relationship

• Finally, to further maintain the separation of pedestrian and vehicular

Open green area

Cross over road

The street plan formed a pattern of

The curvilinear design was then revised to give some

When parking is desired on each side of the street, the right

It suggests parking on one side only since the traffic lanes

•Cul-de-sac Terminate In A Circular To Retain Their Inherent

•Long Cul-de-sacs, Induce Accelerated Traffic Speeds And

•It Eliminates The Necessity For The Turnaround And Provides

Kitchens and garages faced the

Pathways provided uninterrupted

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