The planning of Stevenage was used by the Government as a Guinea Pig to amend the writing of the New Towns Act. Among the issues taken into consideration there was the siting of the industrial area.
Because of the war both skills and materials were scarce when the New Town Act was approved, and this caused a long delay in the outset of the project.
Devastated areas and overspill population were an enormous problem after WWII. The construction of New Towns was the easy way out, even if not the better solution probably