Tuberculosis, urban planning and politics: Social housing in Bucharest (1906 - 1910)

Andrei Razvan Voinea

Andrei Razvan Voinea Ph.D Candidate at the University of Architecture and Planning "Ion Mincu", Bucharest. He holds a B.A. in History (Major) and English (Minor) and two M.A., offered by the University of Bucharest (British Cultural Studies M.A Program) and Central European University (Budapest), Bucharest, ROMANIA

Keywords: social housing, allotments, societatea comunala pentru Locuinte ieftine, gardencity

Abstract

This article places a series of lines of inquiry to clarify what role the social housing played in the public health reform, who were the social reformers who campaigned for the construction of affordable dwellings, what was the state`s answer to these initiatives, and finally how the architects perceived their own role in this narrative. These processes happened on the background of a capitalist state, in a race to catch up the West in manifold aspects and this particular factor decisively influenced the type of intervention that led to that precise chain of events. Dealing with the topic means asking certain questions and their answers are to be found in the discourse of the physicians who are the main pioneers of the public health and social housing reform, while the other social and political agents, such as politicians, architects and engineers, are rather responding to this quest than initializing it.