On the connexion between the origin and localization of diseases, whether usual or epidemical and the over-crowding of buildings in our cities

Abstract

Room to be healthy is, then, one of the great wants of cities and towns, and no greater boon could be offered, to the working classes especially, than houses of two stories high being, at least in front and rear, freed from the obstructing injury of any other buildings to the full breadth of their own height. One point more must be put in this prayer for the poorer householders, which is this, that all frontages should receive the light and heat, the dryness and cleanliness, which a south or an eastern aspect would confer and maintain. Groups of houses round areas separated by their own height at least, and three-sided, leaving the south open, would be wholesome hamlets for the working classes. No doubt, if a grass-plot or flagged square of a moderate size, and without trees or shrubs, could be bestowed as a centre-piece,it would add greatly to the pleasure of the residents and the health of the children; and by inducing the population to live much in the open air, it would improve the physical, moral, and mental strength of the occupying tenants. Such are some of the reasons, statistical and constitutional, for a great increase of street-roominess.