English Heritage want to save suburbia. Photograph: Martin Godwin
When it comes to soft targets, there's nothing easier to mock than suburbia. Sprawling, anonymous and frequently dull, it's about as defenceless as moss. Hollywood has been laying into it for years (see American Beauty, Happiness et al) and in the UK, it's looked down upon by both country and city dwellers. Who will stand up for suburbia? And should they?
The answer to the first question is English Heritage, who this week called for better preservation of the suburbs (where 8 out of 10 of us apparently live) against the eroding forces of higher density living, such as "inappropriate small extensions, dormer and plastic windows and the conversion of front gardens for parking". To this effect, it has released a guidance document entitled The Future of Historic Suburbs, advising councils on how to protect them.
As for the second question, how can we be sure our suburbs really have "character" worth preserving? English Heritage points to Wycombe and Solihull as places where council action has achieved results. Or you could cite classic examples like Hampstead Garden Suburb or Letchworth, but they're hardly representative are they? And if we are preserving suburbia, what are we preserving it for? To attract tourists? To protect wildlife? To give city dwellers something nice to drive through on their way to the country?
I can understand the desire to preserve regional identity and historic architecture, but is there a more sinister side to this? One imagines officially sanctioned taste police swooping on the cul-de-sacs, ripping out PVC double glazing, lopping the heads off garden gnomes and frogmarching off irresponsible McMansion dwellers.
You could take the view that suburbia is the ultimate landscape of architectural individuality - a place where homeowners have the freedom to alter their properties how they like. For better or worse, it's a dynamic, living, functioning environment, and unfortunately those sort of places can look rather chaotic. Who's to judge whether it looks ugly or not? Should we praise suburbia - or bury it?
