| Why
did slums and suburbs develop simultaneously? Did the capitalist system produce
these and were class antagonisms to blame? Why did the Victorians believe there
was a housing problem, and who or what created it? What housing solutions were
attempted, and how successfully? These are amongst the central questions addressed
by social and urban historians in recent years, and their arguments and analyses
are reviewed here. The history of housing between 1780 and 1914 encapsulates many
of the problems associated with the transition from a largely rural to an overwhelmingly
urban nation. The unprecedented pace of this transition imposed immense tensions
within society, with implications for the urban environment and for local and
national government. Housing is central to an understanding of the social, economic,
political and cultural forces in the 19th century. |
