The New Towns movement refers to towns that were built in the United Kingdom after World War II and the associated social movement to advocate for their construction. These towns were planned, developed, and built with two main intentions: to remedy overcrowding and congestion in some instances, and to organize scattered ad hoc settlements in others. The bigger purpose of this development was to decongest larger industrialised cities, and to rehouse people in freshly built, fully planned towns that were completely self-sufficient for the community. The "urban disease" In 1918, at a time when nineteenth century sanitary advances had revealed how unhygienic urban environments were, and owing to pioneers such as Patrick Geddes, the relationship between social issues and town planning was slowly being realised. Frederick Osborn referred to urban problems collectively as the "urban disease". The urban disease, a by-product of the industrial revolution, was brought on by a vicious cycle whereby industry chose to set up near population bases to ensure labour demands could be met, which in turn attracted rural migrants seeking work to move into the city, prompting further industry, and so on. This resulted in greater pollution in the city, higher populations, and denser living conditions. Moreover, rural areas declined rapidly due to loss of population. Furthermore, there were no powers in place to stop prosperous families moving to open spaces, or from industry growing in urban centres. Fringe growth was vigorous and existing centres, along with rural areas were left to deteriorate. Accordingly, those who moved to new fringe suburbs to escape the congestion were in fact "bolstering the very process that caused them to move away." Aspirations for change It was not until 1817 that the first model communities were proposed by social reformer Robert Owen to address overcrowded towns. Inspired by John Bellers's 1695 proposal for a College of Industry, a colony for the poor enabling disadvantaged people to work and their children to be educated, Owen proposed small, self-contained communities of about twelve hundred people reliant on agriculture but with some other industry. However, his plans "foundered under the heavy weight of revolutionary ideas" Further model community ideas continued to arise but were each dismissed owing to the perception that they were unconvincing as business ventures. Ebenezer Howard, creator of the Garden City Movement, successfully founded Letchworth Garden City (1903) and proved that new towns could be economically viable. This was