Again we give three theories of the transformation of the modern town, industrial or capital, into the kind of entity to suit the new social conditions. The first would leave the great towns still existing, but would limit the population on any given space; it would insist on cleanliness and airiness, the surrounding and segregation of the houses by gardens; the erecting of noble public buildings; the maintenance of educational institutions of all kinds— of theatres, libraries, workshops, taverns, kitchens, etc. This kind of town might be of considerable magnitude, and the 315 houses in it might not be very different in size and arrangement from what they are now, although the life lived in them would have been transformed. It is understood, of course, that any association in dwelling in such places would be quite voluntary, although in view of the limitation above mentioned, no individual or group could be allowed to engross an undue area.
The second method of dealing with the unorganised and anarchic towns of to-day proposes their practical abolition, and the supplanting of them in the main by combined dwellings built more or less on the plan of the colleges of our older English universities. As to the size of these, that would have to be determined by convenience in each case, but the tendency would be to make them so large as to be almost small towns of themselves; since they would have to include a large population in order to foster the necessary give and take of intellectual intercourse, and make them more or less independent for ordinary occupation and amusement.
It is to be understood that this system 316 of dwellings would not necessarily preclude the existence of quite small groups, and houses suitable to them, although we think that these would tend to become mere eccentricities.