Some public health and higienist urbanism aspects in São Paulo in the end of the 19th century

Abstract

This article aims to discuss certain aspects of the city of São Paulo between the late 19th century under the scope of hygienist urbanism. With a high rate of epidemics and insalubrity in public and private spaces, the concerns of the city’s administration during that period were geared towards the need ofsevere sanitary interventions in order to transform the urban space into a livable place for its inhabitants. The objectives focused in urban hygiene. Thus, since the 19th century, the concept of a clean urban space begins to grow with public policies elaborated by doctors and Sanitary Engineers. Dialogue between several professionals is established and team work is initiated. As background for this debate can be found two medical theories that served as foundation for the urban interventions: the Miasma Theory and the Bacteriologic Theory. This article intends to combine the debate of those two theories with the disinfection and isolation techniques promoted by the State. In this context, the present communication confines itself to understand how medical theories have influenced the actions moved in the city of São Paulo trough regulations and interventions made to the sick and to the insalubrious houses that rises in the late 19th century.