Our "cottage estate" heritage garden suburbs with a future?

The last few years have seen a lot of talk about planning new Garden Cities and Suburbs. Coalition ministers have tried the idea out several times before taking cold feet. This article suggests that we should make the most of the largely unappreciated potential of Britain's council-built "cottage estates" , which councils all across the country spent enormous amounts of time, effort and money building over the years from 1900 to 1970. The estates can respond well to carefully planned local initiatives, informed by excellent local knowledge. (Quotes from original text)