Public parks and urban development during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in Nottingham

Beckett, John

Abstract

It is well known that Nottingham was one of the most densely built and overcrowded towns in Victorian England. Following the enclosure, 1845-65, green spaces, including public parks, had to be provided in the new suburbs. This article looks at the creation of parks in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to show how a combination of government policies, local authority commitment to providing open spaces and recreation grounds, and philanthropic involvement, led to the post-1845 town and its newly created suburbs having numerous accessible green spaces. This provision has, in turn, impacted on how the modern city has evolved, and the article suggests that this is important for our understanding of urban development more generally. The paper notes the impact of more recent development where large swathes of working class housing, with few or no green spaces, has been swept away and replaced by a significantly greener environment.

Citation

Beckett, J. (2020). Public parks and urban development during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in Nottingham. Midland History, 45(1), 75-94. https://doi.org/10.1080/0047729X.2020.1712078

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 9, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Jan 14, 2020
• Publication Date: Jan 2, 2020
• Deposit Date: Nov 5, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 5, 2019
• Journal: Midland History
• Print ISSN: 0047-729X
• Electronic ISSN: 1756-381X
• Publisher: Maney Publishing
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 45
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 75-94
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/0047729X.2020.1712078
• Keywords: History
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3061086
• Publisher URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0047729X.2020.1712078
• Additional Information: To cite this article: John Beckett (2020) Public parks and urban development during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in Nottingham, Midland History, 45:1, 75-94