ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the heyday of the internal reserve as a key element of best practice town planning around the world. It begins with a survey of key developments incorporating this feature, from Scotland, Belgium, Norway, Finland and thence to Australia, Brazil and the USA, exploring not only the distinct histories and key features or quirks of each set of internal reserves but also their present-day status and condition. The work of three key agents in promoting the co-benefits of small open spaces is highlighted: Walter and Marion Griffin in the USA and Australia, John Nolen in the USA, and Patrick Geddes’ legacy as a colonial planner in India and Israel. Endorsement of the internal reserve in Clarence Perry’s classic ‘neighbourhood unit’ is observed, as is the evolution from Sunnyside Gardens in New York to Radburn in New Jersey by Clarence Stein and Henry Wright. These experiments served as a model for many other planners thereafter, albeit often in distorted or diminished forms and the chapter concludes by flagging the fall from popularity of the internal reserve in the subsequent decade.
