'The Modern Atlas': compressed air and cities c. 1850-1930
'The Modern Atlas': compressed air and cities c. 1850-1930
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“现代地图集”：压缩空气和城市 c．
DOI：
10.1016/j.jhg.2016.03.003
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发表时间：
2016
影响因子：
1
通讯作者：
Dikeç M
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Dikeç M
This article provides an overview of pneumatic technologies in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Western cities. As urban centres continued to grow and expand in the nineteenth century, networks of compressed air were introduced to provide public utilities and private services in a variety of domains, ranging from postal services to beauty parlours. Previously used in mining and large construction works, pneumatic technologies seemed to rival electricity towards the end of the nineteenth century in the provision of urban utilities. Eventually, however, these technologies did not prove flexible enough to keep up with rapid urban population growth and the expansion of cities themselves, nor were they able to become glorious symbols of urban modernity. Through an overview of compressed air applications as used in urban centres, particularly Paris and London, the article provides an insight into the relationship between technological networks and urban modernities from the perspective of this relatively neglected urban network and technology.
