ABSTRACT
The emergence of housing policies in the nineteenth century arose directly out of a concern with health (see p. 18). The urban slums were centres of infectious disease, crime and poverty that threatened the health and stability of the cities. During the cholera epidemics, doctors saw at first hand the appalling conditions and were among those who spearheaded campaigns for public action. It can be argued that improvements in housing and the environment have had a far greater effect on the general health of the population than any advances in medicine.
