At the end of the nineteenth century, the most pressing urban problem facing the authorities was that of public health. In 1890 the government introduced legislation to encourage local authorities to clear insanitary housing and re-house the displaced tenants. Many city councils responded, but in the vast majority of cases, these early experiments foundered in the face of stiff opposition from ratepayers' associations. In Aberdeen, a limited number of workmen's dwellings were built, but the Council soon abandoned the policy and left house building to private enterprise. Increased government intervention in all aspects of public life during the First World War brought home to local authorities that the only way forward was to enter into partnership with central government. For the next twenty years successive governments sought, by subsidies and grants, to encourage councils to build working class housing. Some legislation was successful, some was less so, but as the nineteen-thirties progressed, the most congested areas were cleared and the inhabitants rehoused. In 1939, the Department of Health for Scotland was confident that Scotland's housing problems would be solved by 1942. Unfortunately, war again intervened and building was halted for six years; when the war ended in 1945, the problem was as bad as ever. In the course of fifty years, municipal government had metamorphosed from a purely local form of administration accountable only to its ratepayers into a junior branch of central government. Change was inevitable, for no local authority had the economic muscle to replace its housing stock or plan for future development without state assistance. At the same time, democracy itself had suffered, the day of independent representation in council chambers had all but ended, with councillors assuming party labels and following orders from party headquarters in London.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:592625 |
| Date | January 2000 |
| Creators | Jamieson, T. R. |
| Publisher | University of Aberdeen |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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