"...mein Acker ist die Zeit", Aufsätze zur Umweltgeschichte - Oapen

City and Nature (2007)
Old World in Europe already by 1500. At a very rough estimate the daily nutritional
intake of an average adult person in pre-industrial times was 1kg of food per day (dry
weight), which can serve as a basic value for the minimum daily food flow into noncontemporary
cities, not forgetting the fodder for animals kept in towns.
The history of epidemic diseases is mostly a history related to urbanism. I assume
that these developments are well known and thus will not go into details. It is mentioned
here because it is probably the most important determinant in population history
and because it is clearly density dependent. One important difference between
cities and the countryside emerges not earlier than by the end of the nineteenth century.
By that time the mortality in cities (at least in Germany 213) had fallen below the
mortality in the countryside. Similar developments took place in other (Western)
European countries, though in different decades. The reasons lay mainly in the improved
accessibility to health care, a better sanitary infrastructure, and health education
in cities.
This achievement is a milestone in the ecohistory of cities, as previously residents
had been prone to dangerous infectious diseases for thousands of years, as most epidemic
diseases depend on population density. After the discovery of the pathogens
that caused these dangerous diseases, major developments to combat them were possible
by the invention of the autoclave, improved hygienic behaviour, and vaccination.
Since hospitals are located in cities, residents now benefited from them. However, the
support of accompanying measures was necessary, such as improved sewerage systems,
waste disposal, and fresh water supply.
3.2 Displaced Nature, Resettled Nature, Cited Nature
Mumford coined the expression that a city is an “inverted oasis of stones or clay”,
which points to the most notable property of cities. They are areas where “nature” is
primarily removed and replaced by buildings. Cities are surrounded by walls to protect
residents against predators (animals and, more importantly humans), which also mark
the distinct difference between the “nature containing” outer environment (agriculture,
wilderness) and the “nature-free” inner environment of cities. “Nature-free” means the
absence of natural elements that would exist on that area without a city. Of course, this
does not include the natural media, although water flow, soil, and air are sometimes
influenced, and perhaps even managed by city arrangements.
There are two main elements of “nature” which are moderated by humans in cities,
one being plants and the other animals. With respect to these organisms, city
communities seem to discriminate between “good nature”, which means tolerable
organisms at tolerable places, and “bad nature”, which is fought off. “Good nature” is
deliberately given space of its own in cities. Public parks were likely first introduced in
medieval Italian cities, and certainly started as private establishments. The idea of public
parks as unsealed city areas, places for recreation and watching small animals leads
213 Alfons Labisch and Jörg Vögele, „Stadt und Gesundheit“, Archiv für Sozialgeschichte 37 (1997),
pp. 396 – 424
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