Give explanations for the following:

(i) Why well-off Londoners supported the need to build housing for the poor in the nineteenth century?

Or

Why were mass housing schemes planned for workers in London, after the Russian Revolution in 1917? Explain (Foreign 2010)

Older cities like London changed dramatically when people started pouring in after the Industrial Revolution. Factory or workshop owners did not house these migrant workers. Instead, individual land-owners put up cheap tenements for the workers. These tenements were very unsafe. As the condition of the houses was pitiful, the need for housing for the poor was felt.

Well-off Londoners supported the need to build housing for the poor in the nineteenth century because of three reasons:

● Health issues: They were afraid of health issues. One room houses of the poor were a serious threat to public health as they were overcrowded badly ventilated and lacked sanitation.

● Beauty of London affected from poorer: Large number of poorer in the city affected the beauty of London and their housing conditions also hold the threat of fire which can cause mass destruction in the city.

● Social disorder: There was a widespread fear of social disorder, especially after the Russian Revolution in 1917.

Thus, the workers' mass housing schemes were planned to prevent the London poor from turning rebellious. A variety of steps were taken to clean up London and attempts were made to decongest localities, green the open spaces, reduce pollution and landscape the city