When Gas Went Out of Fashion: The Elite of Valparaíso and Urban Technology

Authors

  • Samuel Martland University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4067/S0250-71612002008300005

Keywords:

urban management, urban history, urban policy, urbanization

Abstract

The 1850s and 1860s saw the first major wave of technological innovation and centralization in Valparaísos city services. Experiments with new ways of organizing business accompanied the new technology: A public-private partnership built the first gas network, while a corporation built the horsecar line. Both ventures were locally owned, and they helped to establish patterns of service that persisted even after foreign investors and state agencies came in the late nineteenth century. The rhetoric surrounding the two projects shows changing ideas about technology and the services needed in a city. The conflicts among the companies, city councils, and state officials involved show the difficulty of planning at times of technological change and the problems that poor planning could cause.

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Published

2002-05-07

How to Cite

Martland, S. (2002). When Gas Went Out of Fashion: The Elite of Valparaíso and Urban Technology. Revista EURE - Revista De Estudios Urbano Regionales, 28(83). https://doi.org/10.4067/S0250-71612002008300005