A QUAKER EXPERIMENT IN TOWN PLANNING: GEORGE CADBURY AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF BOURNVILLE MODEL VILLAGE.

In 1893, George Cadbury initiated the construction of Bournville Model Village, Birmingham (UK). This was the first model settlement to provide low-density housing not restricted to factory employees. This paper examines the relationship between Cadbury's Quaker faith, the growth of his business and the development of a model community. The focus is on exploring the ways in which Cadbury departed from traditional Quaker practices, with respect to visual artistic display and religious intervention in social relations. The article, first, reviews the contribution of Quakerism to the building of George Cadbury's business empire. Second, it examines the relationship between Cadbury's religiously informed brand of benign capitalism and the choice of a particular architectural aesthetic for Bournville. Third, the article shows how evangelical Quaker faith and practice were important in shaping the social development of the Bournville community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]