To Solve Its Housing Crisis, Britain Turns to an Old Idea: New Towns

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On a baking hot afternoon in July, Firouz Thompson proudly drove down the freshly paved road that leads into Northstowe, a new town about six miles northwest of Cambridge, England. “This is where the new town center will be,” said Ms. Thompson, a Northstowe resident, as she pointed to an empty patch of land that will eventually include a market hall, convenience store, library and health center. Nearby there is already a high school and an all-ages special needs school. Soon, a preschool will open. By 2040, this former World War II airfield will be transformed into a thriving town with 10,000 homes and about 25,000 residents. Or, at least, the British government, regional officials and residents hope so. Today, Northstowe has just 1,450 homes in a mixture of low apartment blocks and single-family houses, surrounded by fields, construction sites and newly planted trees that offer no respite from the heat. Nearly a decade after its groundbreaking, Northstowe has become an example of the sluggish pace at which Britain is chipping away at its housing crisis.