A city. The pros and cons of urbanisation.
to enumerate the most vital examples of technological breakthroughs and civilisational progress in cities in the second half of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century;
to identify the social effects of their use.
The growth in the number of inhabitants of European cities in the second half of the nineteenth century was the result of a surge in internal migration from the countryside by those in pursuit of better living conditions, most often in search for work in the industry sector. In many countries, the urban population exceeded the number of rural inhabitants. From the 1830s to the 1870s, a number of European cities were modernized. Hundreds of new tenement houses were built and the order therein was improved urbanisticurbanistic. The urban space, which up to that point had been developing in a chaotic manner, began to be organized. In the second half of the nineteenth century, large department stores began to emerge in cities. Their appearance was a sign of the economic prosperity of cities and increasing welfare. At the beginning of the 1880s in Berlin – as the first city in the history - electric trams started operating. The first metro in the world was launched in London as early as in 1863. At the end of the 19th century, in some European countries communal housing began to be developed for the poorer population. However, indigent areas still existed in cities, which were unable to cope without the activities of private philanthropic associations, church institutions and public welfare services, which were gradually developing.
Indicate the 5 biggest European cities in 1900. Where were they located?
- Berlin – 2071
- Budapest – 880
- Glasgow – 1000
- Hamburg – 931
- London – 7256
- Moscow – 1550
- Paris – 2888
- St. Petersburg – 1962
- Warsaw – 872
- Vienna – 2031
Familiarize yourself with the table and do the exercise.
Year | Number of cities | Percentage of the total population |
1800 | 23 | 2,5 |
1900 | 135 | 10 |
Which process is depicted in the table?
- industrialisation process
- urbanisation process
- pauperisation process
Organize your knowledge about the characteristic features of the urban space at the turn of the 20th century in Europe and the United States.
| The characteristic features of urban infrastructure at the turn of the 20th century | Europa | the United States |
| „sky scrapers", i.e. high-rise buildings | □ | □ |
| community building | □ | □ |
| buildings with elevators | □ | □ |
| department stores | □ | □ |
| metro | □ | □ |
| construction authorities | □ | □ |
| pedestrian crossings | □ | □ |
| representative tenement houses | □ | □ |
| water supply and sewage networks development | □ | □ |
| escalators | □ | □ |
| traffic lights | □ | □ |
| named streets | □ | □ |
| numbered streets | □ | □ |
Keywords
consumptionismconsumptionism, slumsslums, urbanisation
Glossary
konsumpcjonizm – nadmierne przywiązywanie wagi do zdobywania dóbr materialnych.
Opieka społeczna – państwowe lub miejskie instytucje zajmujące się pomocą ludziom potrzebującym
Slumsy – dzielnice biedoty w wielkich miastach
Urbanizacja – proces rozwoju miast i wzrostu ich liczby; powiększanie się obszarów miejskich i udziału ludności miejskiej w całości zaludnienia; wzrost liczby ludności żyjącej wg miejskich wzorów.