Nauwbehuisd en dichtbevolkt. Gemeentelijke voorzieningen en klachten uit de burgerij, Amsterdam 1865-1920

Abstract

Where Housing is Poorest and Population is Densest, Geographical Segregation and Urban Integration in Amsterdam, 1865-1900. This article deals with the role played by local authorities and city residents in the development, expansion and planning of Amsterdam at the end of the nineteenth century. In this period of rapid population growth and economic expansion, there was a clear connection between the growing government control over the water supply, the sewage system and the sanitation department on the one hand and the growing distinction between the public and the private aspects of life on the other. Local authorities were partially responsible from the public sector. They were stimulated by the efforts of a segment of the urban population to involve the city authorities in the protection of their own homes and neighbourhood by writing letters stating their complaints. The government intervention in response to such complaints not only made the further privatization of domestic life and the geographical segregation of social classes possible, it also led to greater urban integration. By way of facilities and regulations instituted by the city, the people of the city became more involved with each other and, in more and more senses, more dependent on each other.