Il popolo dell’abisso. Miseria, malattia e inquinamento nelle città della rivoluzione industriale

The relationship between misery, disease and urban living conditions can be read throughout history along certain lines, concerning the living conditions, that have accompanied urbanisation and the changes in the human- environment relationship over the centuries. If the history of cities can be told through the succession of pandemics that have arrived, following the routes of mankind, we could say that by talking about pandemics we are also dealing with the history of urbanisation. For some time now, scientific research has highlighted the link between pandemic and environmental crisis, and the latter accelerated with the industrial revolution. The development of western industrial cities was also based on the conflict/synergy between opulence and misery, between medical research and the spread of insalubrity caused by poverty and destitution. This text proposes a reflection on this fundamental moment for the fate of our cities, trying to highlight some continuities with the ongoing processes of urbanisation.