DS501 SEAR

Depression -- 1929 -- Singapore||Singapore -- Economic conditions -- 20th century||Singapore -- Social conditions -- 20th century

DS501 SSSJ

Great Britain -- Colonies -- Administration||Singapore -- Politics and government||Chinese -- Singapore -- Politics and government||Community leadership -- Singapore||Community organization -- Singapore||Association, institutions, etc., Chinese -- Singapore

E. P. Richards' Calcutta report of 1914 has been reprinted as a key text in planning history, but little is known of the man himself, compared with other planners active in the British colonies during the early twentieth century such as Geddes and Reade. This article seeks to rescue Richards from obscurity, and position him in the context of the new town planning movement in the first quarter of the twentieth century. A basic narrative of Richards' career, taken mainly from his membership records and obituary at the Institute of Civil Engineers' headquarters in London, covers his key periods with the Derwent Valley Water Board (working on the Birchinlee model village) and the Calcutta and Singapore Improvement Trusts between 1901 and 1924.