Science and Technique in the Service of More Modernand Salubrious Cities

Abstract

In this paper we intend to analyse the problems created by industrial development and the concentration of the population in the main industrial cities. The pollution created by industrial establishments, as well as the insufficient supply of water in good conditions and the lack of sewage systems, created an unhealthy urban environment that favoured the emergence of diseases and did not correspond to the hygienist ideas of the time. Thus, the idea of progress and urban wellbeing was associated with the introduction of modern infrastructures that could solve these problems. On the other hand, the development of sciences such as chemistry or medicine allowed to better understand the reasons for the epidemics and to realize that there could only be good public health if the problems that affected individual health were solved. In the process of urban modernization and the resolution of health problems affecting cities, doctors, chemists and engineers played a decisive role with their scientific knowledge and technical skills. Their action also benefited from their contacts abroad, and from the solutions to urban problems adopted in other countries. Political-administrative institutions also tried to take measures to eliminate or reduce the risk of disease or pollution, in order to create urban spaces in conformity with the standards of the more developed cities. The ideas for the modernization of cities were also linked to the introduction of gas and electricity in public lighting, as well as the ideas of better planning of urban spaces and the creation of more beautiful and pleasant cities, with more gardens and green areas. Similarly, the introduction of electrical transportation favoured the population’s mobility in urban space, which gradually increased. The introduction of basic sanitation and energy networks had an influence on living space, of course, although at first this alteration was particularly felt in the most important cities and the higher social strata. In this text we intend to analyse some of the issues mentioned, covering the late 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century.