The Garden City Movement and New Towns programme were both influenced by the British utopian tradition and aimed to create self-sufficient new communities that enabled all residents to thrive (Lock and Ellis, 2020). While New Towns have received significant academic attention, there has been more limited engagement with the queer communities’ experiences of these planned communities. Research on Scottish New Towns found mentions of ‘alternative sexualities’ were rare (Fair et al, 2025). Yet, recent publications from Storm & Goss (2025) and Grindrod (2026) have shed light on queer experiences of New Towns, with a particular focus on Milton Keynes.

This PhD study seeks to further contribute to this gap in knowledge by focusing on three research objectives:

• RO1: Reveal how societal norms, such as heteronormativity and patriarchy, have influenced the development of new communities.
• RO2: Explore the queer communities’ experience of everyday life in the post-war new towns, utilising a case study approach.
• RO3: Imagine how future generations of new communities can be planned, built and stewarded to act as sites of inclusive and prefigurative planning.

To achieve this, a multi-method approach will be adopted. This includes walking interviews (RO2) and participatory mapping with queer residents (RO3), supplemented by interviews with planning professionals (RO1/3) and archival research (RO1/2). This methodological approach seeks to examine how social norms shape the development of new communities, while also exploring how the experiences and desires of queer residents can be incorporated into the planning of future iterations of new towns.