preview

British Towns And Cities Overcrowded

Decent Essays

British towns and cities were overcrowded. Population began increasing due to more people moving in. As businesses began to boom and the national markets grew, more people from the countryside flocked to the towns and the new factories because they wanted jobs. Small towns became large cities and the city of London grew from a population of 2 million in 1840 to 5 million forty years later. This resulted in more people in a country (Great Britain) living in cities than in rural areas like never before. Houses were tiny and densely packed because as new towns and cities began to rapidly develop, the need for housing escalated. In a rush to build the houses, many were constructed too quickly in rows and often back to back "every scrap of space left by the old way of building has been filled up and patched over until not a foot of land is left to be further occupied". And if houses being really close together externally wasn't enough, they were also very crowded internally as a result of the fast increase in population. Five to Nine people lived in a "small one-storied, one-roomed hut" which was as big as an apartment and families had to share the tight space with other families or even complete strangers.

British towns and cities were poor. Workers were not paid much at all for almost a whole day of work. As factories were being built, businesses were in need of workers and with a long line of people willing to work, employers could set wages as low as they wanted because

Get Access