Sir Ebenezer Howard was one of the few men who put into action the hopes and dreams of living a life that was better than his own. Howard imagined the ideal city as a place where the problems of his time would cease to exist. Reacting to the contemporary metropolis of London, Howard saw that a change was needed in the way a city functioned. The political, economic, and health problems that were rampant in late 19th century England was holding society back and Howard believed that mankind was ready to attain a higher level of civilization that would bring a perfect harmony between man and nature. The urban revolution that Howard envisioned would be attained by tweaking the physical environment of the city in order to change the way people lived. The radical notion of being able to change society by way of physical and environment manipulation was Howard’s translation of past ideas of men who shared his same belief. Howard learned from other attempts and ideas about ideal cities that formed the basis for his own ideal plan. In particular, Howard looked at Bellamy’s Looking Backward, as a template for a world that could be organized by moral principles and equal opportunity for all people. (30) Utopian societies like that of Bellamy and Howard spring forth from a dire need and reaction of the contemporary problems the inventor of the utopia lives in. Howard lived at a time that might seem foreign when reading the history books, but is eerily similar to the one we live in today. Howard embodied the “little man” and lamented with the struggle that the middle, working class of London had to deal with. Land owning monopolies took control of farming on the countryside and made small landowners swell the city to look for other means of supporting themselves. These flocks were met with ruthless big companies who exploited them to the point that they could barely live in the overcrowded, polluted city. (30) Life was a big struggle in the urban metropolis and led Howard to search for a way to create a better option. Class struggle and big government were seen by Howard as the main problems that needed to be addressed in order to allow for a new society to emerge. The remedy that Howard proposed was based on democracy and cooperation to allow for the people to lead better lives. The farming would be given back to smaller landowners while a profit sharing cooperative ideal would replace capitalist greed. Through these changes, Howard believed that political and economic hardships would be alleviated and equalization in society would occur. (31) Howard calls for a cooperative commonwealth, or brotherhood, to attain the economic security and equality that is needed to lead a better life. Howard’s city would be a place where everyone would be employed by the community and social order and individual initiative would be balanced. (34) Howard wanted a mix of privately and collectively owned enterprises in order to give an equal footing to the community. The question of balancing the individual’s needs with the societal wants is a key issue in creating a successful city. Howard believed that a decentralized society would be able to achieve this balance and succeed in creating a place where social disorder and class inequality would be a thing of the past. (36) In addition to political and economic issues, the big cities had to deal with pollution, overcrowding and other physical dilemmas. Like many big cities such as London, Paris, and Chicago, growth rates skyrocketed during the latter part of the 19th century. The urban swell of these cities spurred on disease, pollution, and uncomfortable living situations. It seemed that there were only two choices, live in physical detriment, but with urban benefits or live in the open air of the country-side, but with n