ABSTRACT
The first phase of the new towns programme had embodied what might be called the 'Abercrombie model' of decentralization and regional balance. This model depended implicitly on the assumption of a stable or only slowly growing population – a reasonable inference from the low birthrates of the 1930s, which formed the statistical information available to the Barlow Commission and subsequently to Abercrombie for his plans for London and Clydeside. In 1960, however, came the first public acknowledgment that this model of population and employment trends might have become inadequate, especially in the formulation of policies for the South East. While population was declining in the old metropolitan area it was increasing rapidly in the outer area of the London region. The 'big' expansions were similarly thinned in the course of events. The 'second generation' of new towns was completed by four more designated proposals.
