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Home and Building, Volume 18 Number 1 (June 1955)

[section]

Mr. Sanderson holds the Diploma of Town Planning and Civic Design of the University of London, where he studied under Sir Patrick Abercrombie, creator of the Greater London Plan.

As an architect and consultant town planner, Mr. Sanderson believes that only the widespread recognition and adoption of accepted town-planning principles can save New Zealand's cities from the effects of chaotic development.

Mr. Clifford Sanderson discusses various points that should help us to understand what the establishment of a school of town and country planning can do for us.

The intention of the Auckland University College Council to establish a chair of town planning in Auckland with the aid of a gift of £7200 from a member of the council, Mr. N. B. Spencer, has aroused interest in architectural and local government circles.

"The school to be established in Auckland will provide a focal point for town planning, a centre for the dissemination of information. As a people we are unfortunately not planning conscious, though town planning should be everybody's business. The school should help the public to learn something of this very important subject. And it could give valuable advice to Government departments, local authorities and planning organisations — independent advice.

It will also provide a centre for research into town planning, where problems peculiar to this country can be studied.

Although domiciled in Auckland it will be a national school for the benefit of the country as a whole, and while not appearing to be parochial about the matter, Auckland should also reap some benefit, as it undoubtedly has from its School of Architecture."

"We Must Plan"

"Many people," he says, "believe that what they call the 'planning mania' has been overdone, but if we consider the matter for a moment we must realise that to do anything at all properly we must plan in some shape or form.

The education of our children is planned, courses of study for careers must be planned, the farmer must plan his year's activities before putting them into operation, the business man must plan. In short, planning in its wider aspect is something of which we all have first-hand knowledge.

Why should we apply such measures to towns? Our forefathers seemed to get along very well without them, or so it may appear at first sight, but if we are curious enough about it we shall find that most, if not all, of our present-day city problems are the result of bad planning, or of no planning at all, in the past. Most of our difficulties of transport and traffic, wafer supply, drainage and electricity supply can be traced back to lack of adequate planning.

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