Housing in Urban Britain 1780–1914

An ideal introduction to a central issue in nineteenth-century social history – the history of housing and the transition from a rural to an urban society.

Richard Rodger (Author)

9780521557863, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 14 September 1995

114 pages, 3 tables
21.6 x 14 x 0.7 cm, 0.16 kg

"...Rodger's study is an excellent introduction to the social, economic, and political issues related to urban housing. Students at the undergraduate and graduate level will benefit from reading this introduction and then using both the notes and the updated bibliographical essay for further study." Vladimir Steffel, Historian

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 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 nineteenth-century history; this book is an ideal introduction to the topic.

1. Introduction: an urban framework
2. Urban expansion and the pattern of demand
3. Supply influences
4. House types: terraces and tenements
5. The suburbs: villas and values
6. The containment of 'The Housing Problem' 1850–1880
7. A late-Victorian and Edwardian housing crisis
8. Comfort and housing amenity
9. Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Updated bibliographical note
Index.

Subject Areas: Social & cultural history [HBTB]