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Paradise for Whom? Conservatism and Progress in the Perception of Rio de Janeiro's Drinking-Water Supply, Sixteenth to Nineteenth Centuries
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 September 2017
Abstract
This article examines the ways in which the perception of Rio de Janeiro's drinking water contributed to shaping the city's hydric management in colonial and imperial times. Even though the general assessment of climate and vegetation changed from paradisiacal to noxious in the second half of the eighteenth century in accordance with Enlightenment ideas, this had no effect on the locals’ appreciation of the city's drinking water. The criteria for evaluating the quality and quantity of available water were based on works from classical antiquity and remained essentially unchanged from early colonial times to the end of the empire. Not even population growth and increasing susceptibility to epidemics in the nineteenth century induced the authorities to reform the water supply system, as they were confident that the city was provided with good and abundant water by virtue of its natural predisposition.
Spanish abstract
Este artículo examina las formas en que las percepciones sobre el agua potable en Río de Janeiro influyeron en el manejo hídrico de la ciudad en los periodos colonial e imperial. Aun cuando la evaluación general sobre el clima y la vegetación cambió de paradisiaco a dañino en la segunda mitad del siglo XVIII de acuerdo con las ideas de la Ilustración, esto no tuvo efecto en la apreciación de la población local sobre el agua potable de la ciudad. Los criterios para evaluar la calidad y cantidad del agua disponible se basaron en trabajos de la antigüedad clásica y permanecieron esencialmente sin cambios desde principios del periodo colonial hasta el final del imperio. Ni siquiera el crecimiento de la población ni el incremento de la susceptibilidad a epidemias en el siglo XIX indujeron a las autoridades a reformar el sistema de abastecimiento de agua ya que tenían confianza de que la ciudad era abastecida con agua abundante y de calidad gracias a su carácter natural.
Portuguese abstract
Este artigo examina as maneiras em que a percepção que se tinha sobre a água potável do Rio de Janeiro contribuiu em definir a gestão hídrica da cidade em tempos coloniais e imperiais. Em linha com ideias do Iluminismo, a avaliação geral do clima e da vegetação da cidade passou de edênico a nocivo à partir da segunda metade do século dezoito. Isso porém não surtiu nenhum efeito na avaliação das pessoas locais em relação à água potável da cidade. Os critérios para avaliar a qualidade e quantidade de água disponível eram baseados em trabalhos da antiguidade clássica e permaneceram essencialmente imutáveis desde o começo da era colonial até o final do império. Nem mesmo o crescimento da população e a crescente susceptibilidade à epidemias no século dezenove levaram as autoridades a reformar o sistema de abastecimento de água. Elas estavam seguras que a cidade era suprida de água de qualidade e em abundância em virtude de seu caráter natural.
Keywords
- Type
- Research Article
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- Copyright
- Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017
Footnotes
*
I am grateful to Tamar Herzog, Susan Fitzpatrick-Behrens, Malte Griesse and Martin Biersack as well as to the anonymous peer reviewers and editors for their helpful comments on various versions of this article. Thanks also go to William Templer and to Virginia Catmur for revising my English. The research was supported by funding from the Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation and the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 659520.
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