| In the 19 th century,The Great Britain entered the industrial society and carried out industrialization and urbanization at an unprecedented speed.From the beginning of the 19 th century to the middle of the 19 th century,British cities have witnessed significant growth in both occupation and population.However,it has also caused many problems,such as urban population crowding,deterioration of living conditions,and aggravation of wealth and poverty among regions,which have plagued both urban authorities and residents.In order to cope with the emerging urban management crisis in this period,the traditional mode of relying on local elites to implement autonomy found itself difficult to solve the problems.However,as a capital city with remarkable political identity,London hesitated to establish a unified municipal administration covering the entire metropolitan area due to its huge political inertia and resistance to the content of strengthening government power in the municipal reform,Only when the public found that the public health and environmental problems could not be solved by the regions themselves did they have to try to discuss and adopt the "Metropolitan Board of Works" in Parliament on the basis of the vestries.The main body of the paper is divided into four chapters.The first chapter is mainly attempt to present the economic and social background of Metropolitan Area before the establishment of the Metropolitan Board of Works.With the advancement of industrialization and urbanization,London is faced with the expansion of space,population and other aspects,forming the situation that many parishes surround the City of London with autonomous status.In cities and parishes,in addition to the municipal councils and parish committees that follow the principle of local autonomy,there are many ‘middle classes’ and labor unions,which together with the local government constitute a diversified organizational structure.In the first half of the19 th century,the material composition and consciousness of London Metropolitan Area together formed the soil for the birth of the committee.The second chapter mainly analyzes the direct reasons for the establishment of the Metropolitan Board of Works.Although a variety of residential environment and social problems have arisen in cities due to the rapid increase of population,affected by the trend of local autonomy,all sectors of society generally tend to accept the guidance of decentralized and independent local governments.However,the public health crisis such as cholera epidemic has exposed the difficulty of "small governments" in accumulating enough strength to protect residents from epidemics and pollution.Meanwhile,the rise of utilitarianism has provided theoretical support for government centralization.In the debate and compromise between the reformers and the conservatives,the "Metropolitan Board of Works" with limited administrative power was established.The third chapter mainly introduces the deeds of the Metropolitan Board of Works during its operation.At the beginning of its establishment,the Metropolitan Board of Works was responsible for the construction of the main drainage pipeline system on both banks of the Thames River in London to ensure the smooth discharge of urban sewage.The contribution made by the committee in the drainage pipeline project has been unanimously recognized by the urban public.Therefore,the subsequent Thames River embankment renovation project,slum housing renovation project,the acquisition of private water and heating companies,the maintenance and arrangement of roads and doorplates between the City of London and the parishes,and the construction of the urban fire brigade are also led and coordinated by the committee.In this process,the Municipal Engineering Committee itself gradually exposed the problems of insufficient funds,growing bureaucracy,low efficiency and corruption,which caused widespread dissatisfaction in the society.In 1888,a new Local Government Law was issued,and the "Metropolitan Board of Works" was replaced by the "London County Council" the following year.Urban management entered a new era.The fourth chapter summarizes the experience and lessons that the Commission has provided for future generations in urban governance and the enlightenment it has brought to the rise of the planning industry.Although the committee has only existed for more than 30 years,it has a very important pioneering significance in the process of urban management practice,and has certain reference value for Britain’s own urban governance practice in the 20 th century,even for Europe and even the world.In addition,the establishment and operation logic of the "Metropolitan Board of Works" was born out of the social conditions of modern Britain.On the one hand,it is the unified management of urban affairs by government agencies;on the other hand,it is still influenced by the habits of the local autonomy period in the governance process,and the rights and interests of urban residents and private companies are coordinated under the legal framework,which reflects that the urban management style of London Metropolitan Area is the result of the joint shaping of all parties in the city.In the conclusion part,the author reviews the history of the Metropolitan Board of Works from its establishment to its dissolution,and re examines it in the context of the acceleration of the urbanization process and the rise of the urban planning industry in the 19 th century.The unique feature of the Board is that it can still accept the supervision from urban residents and the public media when the public services of the city are under the unified management,On the basis of trying to coordinate the interests of all parties,we should complete the task of improving urban infrastructure and improving the living standard of citizens.In addition to getting inspiration from the organizational form of municipal planning institutions,it is also necessary to recognize the importance of a social form with a pluralistic dialogue mechanism in solving urban and social problems. |
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