Coping in Their Own Way: Asian Cities and the Problem of Fires

One of the major economic, social and environmental problems created by the population explosion in the Third World since the Second World War has been the growth of cities. The ability of Third World cities to cope with growing numbers is the subject of an important specialist debate. In it, the work of urban historians is generally ignored. ¹ An historical view of cities is usually discounted by modem analysts on the grounds that the Third World’s city problems and rates of population growth - currently averaging 4-5 per cent per annum - are unprecedented. In fact, many cities in the pre-modem period had to cope with rates of population growth which were much higher than this. ² Tltis was a considerable achievement because they had to make do with far more limited communications and building technology, weaker building materials, and poorer sanitation and fire-fighting techniques than are available to today’s cities. If pre-modem cities were able to cope with the problems of rapid growth, does their experience offer support for the argument of some economists that the market provides the best solution? What does urban history reveal about the need for government intervention into the process of city growth? One of the major problems which pre-modern cities faced was the threat and incidence of destructive fires. This article examines how cities which were especially vulnerable dealt with the problem and considers the implications of this for the debate about modem urbanization.