Page:Old Towns and New Needs.djvu/63

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THE TOWN EXTENSION PLAN
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buildings which has been permitted is only too evident. By a very efficient and complete system of tramways following such direct routes as are available, much has been done to relieve the pressure of population in the centre of the town, and to make it possible for a large proportion of the inhabitants to live nearer the fresh air and green fields outside; but the want of good highways has hampered this development; and you will see that there are still large areas within the city boundaries not served by this means of locomotion, and not properly accessible by any suitable roads from the centre of the town. Our municipalities have only just been given Town Planning powers. In many cases, as in Manchester, they have done much without those powers. "We are to-night considering what further can be done by the aid of Town Planning. We will take as our first example the town of Frankfort, situated on a tributary of the Rhine, 500 miles from the sea. Owing to the foresight of the German nation in providing for the maintenance of a navigable condition, and of the towns adjacent to the river in providing adequate connection with the industrial quarters and sufficient dock and harbour space, the Rhine is becoming the most important traffic highway in the country. Frankfort has recently laid out and is constructing on the east side of the town something like seven miles of additional wharf space for the loading and unloading of barges; it has set aside an enormous area of ground provided with siding accommodation, giving connection alike with the railways and the wharves, with other conveniences both for warehousing and manufacturing