The strange and wonderful 19th century utopian suburbs

Despite current arguments that suburbs damage the environment, the first ones were actually advocated for by environmentalists and utopia builders. Ebenezer Howard wanted a suburban utopia that would solve all of society's problems: The Garden City. They were compact, walkable cities and they became a worldwide urban planning phenomenon, and their legacy lasts to this day.
SOURCES:
"Paradise Planned" by Robert A. M. Stern, David Fishman, and Jacob Tilove
"Visionaries and Planners: The Garden City Movement and the Modern Community" by Stanley Buder