10 Ways In Which New York In 1880s Was Similar To Indian Cities

When the Centre launched its Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Mission), many questioned its future success in a country like India. Indians who visit today's Western cities come back thinking Indian cities such as Mumbai or Delhi would never become as clean as New York, London or Paris.

However, a lesser-know fact is that Western cities were once very similar to today's Delhi or Mumbai. They, too, were once breeding grounds of diseases, and were known as death traps. Most cities went through such phases before they became prosperous. But, their development shows that so much is possible.

In his book, How the Other Half Lives: Studies among the Tenements of New York, Danish-American social reformer Jacob Riis documented the living and working conditions of people living in New York's tenements in the 1880s.

Here are 10 ways in which New York of 1880s that Riis describe was similar to modern Indian cities:

Fresh air was a luxury

Gardiner Harris, a New York Times correspondent in Delhi, recently left the city because his eight-year old son Bram's breathing problems intensified. Harris said that he jeopardised his children's life by living in Delhi. This may seem to be a characteristic of many third-world cities, but in the New York Riis described, many babies died during summers because windowless apartments lacked fresh air. Over the years, building standards in New York improved because:

1) Elevators allowed real estate developers to build tall buildings.

2) An increase in automobiles usage allowed people to live far from downtown, allowing people to consume more floor space. Population density in Manhattan declined. While 16 people lived on a typical floor of 920 sq ft in 1910, four people lived on a comparable floor in 2012. Fresh air is no longer a luxury in New York.

People died from diseases because of poor sanitation 

In 1880s, poor sanitation led to many deaths in New York. Real estate developers were seen as the culprit for not installing sanitation pipes to earn more profits. However, the fact is that income levels in the city were low that many could not afford sanitation facilities. With rising income levels and local authorities building citywide sewage systems, such diseases became history. 

Roads were not clean

In 1894, Colonel George Waring, the man who built Memphis' sewage system (a city where water-borne diseases were common), started cleaning work on cleaning up New York's roads. Asphalt-paved roads, a new technology then, also helped city roads to be cleaned easily. This is said to be a major factor in New York's life expectancy rising by 4.7 percentage points, from 1901 to 1910. 

Tenants were unsafe

In 1880s', many landlords built wooden stairs that Riiis describes as fire traps. He called this “premeditated death as large-scale economic speculation”. This is not very different from the situation in rent-controlled buildings in central Mumbai. As floor space index (FSI) declined over decades, landlords hardly redevelop homes that are on the verge of collapse. By redeveloping buildings, they may lose floor space. This causes large-scale damages to life. 

Journalists illustrated the contrast between slums and formal settlements

The contrast between formal and informal settlements is often illustrated by journalists, by comparing mud-paved slum dwellings with skyscrapers in the background. Riis, too, compared orderly tenements with poorly developed slums. Now, such pictures are showcased in the Museum of the City Of New York. 

New York too had underrated slums

Mulberry Street, now a principle thoroughfare in Manhattan,  was seen a crime-ridden place. But, Riis' photographs urged people to not consider them inferior. He tried to showcase the crowd as people-like-you-and-me. This is true of India's slums, too. Many slums are more productive and offer better living standards than the native villages of its inhabitants. 

Clean water was once a revolution

Some studies indicate that nearly 70 per cent of the water in the Delhi-National Capital Region is undrinkable. Clean water was once a luxury in New York, too. Health experts did not even know that many diseases like cholera and typhoid were water-borne. After many efforts to provide clean water failed, from 1799 to 1842, New York spent $ 9 million (a fortune in those days) to build the Croton Aqueduct. Mortality rate steeply declined since then. 

Homelessness was common

Many New Yorkers lacked a home that provided minimum standards of living in 1880s'. Local authorities still claim that many New Yorkers live in dwelling units that does not meet minimum standards, but this is because they routinely raise minimum standards. A typical household that is below the poverty line in New York today has air conditioning, colour televisions and all the other basic amenities. In India, a hot tropical country where air conditioners are essential and diseases spread quickly, this may soon be a reality.

Riis was prejudiced, too

Today, when intellectuals write about slum dwellers in India, they begin with preconceived notions. They often looked down on slum dwellers and their land lords, and assume that they have the best solutions to offer. Riis' writings on Italians, Jews and Irish immigrants in tenements are no different.

Riis' book led to the tearing down of New York's tenements and sweatshops

Like it is today, awareness of conditions in slums led to tearing them down. Often when urban local authorities demolish slums, this does not improve their living conditions, except when they are rehabilitated in dwelling units near the city centre. New York and other major cities, too, had fruitlessly tried to improve its slums. But, gradually living conditions improved. Despite everything, human spirit triumphed.