From the archive: New Towns statistics

The New Towns programme was arguably the most ambitious feat of town planning in the history of the United Kingdom and today they are home to 2.8 million people. At present, the New Town idea is at the top of the political and planning agenda. 

There is much that can and should be learnt from the post-war New Towns both for the existing New Towns that are undergoing regeneration and as the Labour government commits to a new generation of New Towns. The TCPA’s online archive has a wealth of information and material on the planning and delivery of these new towns, ranging from articles, images, and statistics.  

Between 1953 and 1991, the TCPA published statistics in Town and Country Planning on the progress being made in the post-war New Towns. Originally, starting as one table in a 1953 article outlining the progress of the New Towns programme, it was later expanded and became a recurring feature with statistics covering topics such as population, housing delivery, and economic progress.  

From 1953 to 1979, the statistics were published on an annual basis in the January or February edition of the journal and analysed the data from the previous year. In 1980, the statistics began being published in November and provided statistics from March of the same year. With the winding up of the development corporations in the 1980s, between 1981 and 1991, the New Towns statistical release became a biennial segment in Town and Country Planning.  

These statistics provide a fascinating insight into the New Towns being delivered across the United Kingdom in the 20th century over multiple decades. Whether you're a researcher, planning officer, policymaker, or New Towns enthusiast, we hope you enjoy exploring this dataset as well as our wider online archive as you delve into the world of New Towns and ponder what the lessons are for their 21st century counterparts.  

New Towns Statistics from the Town and Country Planning Journal 

(The year noted is the year the statistics cover, not the year they were published) 

1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965,  

1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1991,  

Regional share of proposed national population in New Towns figure from the February 1976 edition of Town and Country Planning