‘A fair share for all’: care, welfare and landscape through a case study of a Scottish New Town

This article uses the landscapes of East Kilbride, Scotland’s first New Town, to introduce, analyse and understand the multiple ways they provide care for people and the environment. Brenda Colvin (1897-1981), landscape consultant to East Kilbride, held the ideal that landscapes could and should care equitably and equally for the welfare of people and the welfare of the broader ecosystem. Colvin’s designs for the New Town were made between 1949-52 and constituted one of her first post-war projects. It was part of a wider turn in post-war reconstruction towards the creation of large-scale, collaborative projects for the new landscapes of the British Welfare State. Now, 75 years on, East Kilbride offers a unique perspective on the spatial and environmental aspects of care through landscapes that embodied the ethos of care of the Welfare State and the belief in a fair share for all.