#RMS_031

The Garden City movement, initiated by Sir Ebenezer Howard in 1898, represented a visionary response to the squalor and congestion of the Victorian industrial city. Howard proposed the creation of planned, self-contained communities that would blend the economic opportunities of the town with the environmental benefits of the country. A central tenet of his philosophy was that these settlements should be strictly limited in population and area, encircled by a permanent belt of agricultural land to prevent them from merging into one another. This 'green belt' was intended to act as a barrier against the unchecked urban sprawl that characterizes many modern metropolises. While only two towns, Letchworth and Welwyn, were built strictly adhering to his blueprint during his lifetime, the movement's legacy is evident in the subsequent New Towns Act of 1946. By advocating for decentralized, balanced communities, Howard laid the theoretical groundwork for much of 20th-century British town planning, challenging the assumption that urban expansion must inevitably lead to overcrowding and environmental degradation. According to the passage, what was the specific purpose of the 'green belt' in Howard's proposal?