About this talk

Running time: 28 minutes

For the first six years of the new city, Derek Walker was Chief Architect and Planner of Milton Keynes, the largest New Town ever undertaken in Britain. Now in private practice, he looks back at its aims and development.

"We are talking of a quarter of a million people in 49 square miles" he says. To date (1980) only a third of the population has been reached, yet Milton Keynes already boasts squares, arcades, parks, boulevards - to which its buildings provide a complement - housing, factories, schools and a central shopping building of the highest architectural standard.

The image sought for Milton Keynes was that of a city softer than the surrounding countryside, a vision pursued throughout Walker's direction there; a city that reflects new forms of society: "a city which is an open matrix for selection by the individual of opportunities for social contact, recreation, education and the rest, and which makes infrastructure a positive contribution".

Walker has also spoken about his career more generally in New Directions.

Please note that a transcript of this talk is available - please contact us for further details.