By the mid-1800s, the River Thames had been
used as a dumping ground for human excrement for centuries. At last, fear of
its ‘evil odour’ led to one of the greatest advancements in urban planning:
Joseph Bazalgette’s sewage system.
London is, of course, an ancient metropolis,
but according to the city’s prolific biographer (and Londoner) Peter Ackroyd,
the 19th century “was the true century of change”. And by the mid-1800s, reform
of the capital’s sanitation, like much else in the nation’s political and
social life, was long overdue.
To read click here: The Guardian Cities/The story of cities: London
