Environmental Problems in European Cities in the 19th and 20th Century

This volume features 12 essays based on contributions to the Fourth International Conference on Urban History in 1998, focusing on environmental issues in small, medium, and large cities across seven European countries, with one essay addressing American cities. It analyzes the history of urban soil and waste in Paris, as well as significant debates on sewerage and public health in late 19th-century Austrian, British, and Swedish cities. Contributions on 20th-century developments explore traffic emissions in Paris and Berlin, smog and reform movements in Athens, and zoning practices in German and Italian cities and regions. The primary aim is to illustrate the connections between environmental challenges and urban structures and lifestyles, the varied developmental paths of European cities, and the fundamental shifts in the perception of urban environmental problems.