SECTION A — CHARACTERISTICS OF A CITY
- Cities developed only when an increase in supply of food made it possible to support a wide range of non-food producers.
- They were often centres of political powers with administrative network, trade and industry.
- In medieval Europe, some towns and cities also emerged in the periphery of religious institutions like the church or important buildings.
- Majority of European countries remained rural long after the Industrial Revolution began in Britain.
- Migrants from rural areas were attracted to the textile mills of Manchester and Leeds in large numbers after 1850s.
- Special features of the city of London in the year 1750 were :
(i) Colossal city or Metropolis, densely populated, the capital of the region.
(ii) Population 6,75,000.
(iii) Rate of growth of population from one million in 1810 to four million in 1880.
- According to Gareth Stedman Jones, in the 19th century England, London was “A city of clerks, shopkeepers, small innsters, skilled artisans and a growing number of semi-skilled workers, soldiers, beggars, servants, casual labourers.”
- Industries : Shipping and dockyards, clothing and footwear, wood and furniture, metals and engineering, printing and stationery, precision products like surgical instruments, watches, precious metals. During First World War manufacture of motor cars and electrical goods.
- Marginal groups : Society transformed in terms of quality of life, morality and distinction between the rich and the poor. Crimes increased as cities expanded. Petty thieves, and poor people were estimated to be 20,000 in number in London during the 1870s.
- Remedial measures included high penalties for crimes and work offered to the deserving poor.
- Philanthropists concerned about social morality and industrialists watched and investigated the lives of criminals.
- Condition of the children and women worsened as industrial employees. Paid less wages, forced to work in mines and factories.
- Improvement with the passage of Compulsory Elementary Education Act in 1870 and the Factory Act of 1902, which prevented children from industrial work.
- Housing : Housing was a huge problem for urban population. Factory workers lived in tenements run-down and overcrowded houses in the poor section of large cities.
- Housing was a threat to public health, fire hazards were expected and there was a fear of rebellion and revolt by the working class (Russian Revolution of 1917 that led to communism in Russia).
- Mass housing schemes for workers were planned.
- Cleaning London : It was an immediate problem due to the growth of slums. Life expectancy of a worker was at an average 29, as compared to 55 among gentry. Steps taken to clean London were :
(i) Decongestion of localities by introduction of rent control
(ii) Increasing green open space by building suburbs or countryside homes for the rich.|
(iii) Landscaping and building cottages for single families etc.
- Transport in the City : To solve the problem of congestion of traffic, the first underground train opened on 10th January, 1863 between Paddington and Farrington Street in London. 10,000 passengers were carried on that day.
- Underground trains, though objects of cynicism in the beginning, partially solved housing crisis by carrying large masses to and from the city to the suburbs.
- By the 20th century, most large cities like New York, Tokyo, Chicago possessed underground train networks.
SECTION B — SOCIAL CHANGE IN THE CITY
- Family life affected in industrial cities, family ties loosened up due to industrialisation.
- Status of women changed and varied among the working class, middle class and upper class.
- The upper and middle classes faced higher levels of isolation. But their lives were made easier by the rising number of domestic maids who cooked, cleaned and cared for young children at lower wages.
- A quarter of a million domestic servants existed in London, according to an 1861 Census.
- Women of lower classes, who worked for wages, had more control of their lives.
- Men, Women and Family : Public spaces were male-dominated as women lost their industrial jobs and were forced to withdraw into their homes.
- Political movements like the Chartist Movement, demanded voting rights for all male adults and 10-hour movement for limiting the working hours in factories.
- Women’s property rights, adult franchise came much later in the 1870s after a lot of struggle.
- Wars changed the urban family in the 20th century. Families turned nuclear.
- Industrial cities became centres of new market for goods, services as well as ideas.
- They provided mass work, demands for rests on Sundays and other common holidays were raised.
- Leisure and Consumption : Cultural events increased as a form of leisure. Operas, theatres, classical music performances were patronised by the wealthy Britishers during the London Season.
- London Season was a traditional celebration time for the upper class after Christmas and Easter.
- The Pubs were meeting places for drinks, news debates on different issues by the working class.
- Libraries, Art Galleries, Museums, etc. were established in the 19th century, which increased historic sense and pride in British identity and achievements.
- Music Halls and Theatres were popular places of entertainment for the lower classes. Holidays by the sea were encouraged for the working class.