ImprovementCommission

Since the 18th century, doctors and intellectuals who supported hygienist ideas had advocated sanitation measures for the city, and in the second half of the 19th century, the yellow fever (1849-1850) and cholera (1855) epidemics reinforced discourse on public health. It was during this period that debates about public health and sanitation broadened; it was also the moment when engineers began to gain more visibility on the political scene, forming, together with sanitary physicians, the elite group that addressed issues of public hygiene – the era's thermometer of progress and civilization. Priority was given to the cleaning, hygiene, and lighting of buildings, roads, and bridges, and to the leveling of hills.

Image description: This image is a black-and-white engraving, likely from an old newspaper or magazine. At the top, we see the title "O Mousouiro" surrounded by a floral illustration. Below, there is a phrase indicating the location: "Redacção 70 Rua do Ouvidor 70". The central part highlights the phrase "Não Mais Febre Amarela! Está Descoberto o Bicho", written in large, prominent letters. On the left, there is a caricature of a bee holding a bucket of water. In the background, we see a scene with several people on a street, some appearing to be sick or dead, while others look on. There is also a sign reading "Remédio Camponês" and a figure of a person lying in a bed.

Starting in 1835, the municipal Câmara began promoting debate around the regulation of the city's urban dimension and created at least two important bodies for the city's modernization project: the Junta Central de Saúde, in 1849, formed by sanitary physicians and responsible for public health issues, and the Comissão de Melhoramentos da Cidade do Rio de Janeiro, in 1874, composed of engineers Jerônimo Rodrigues de Morais Jardim and Marcelino Ramos, and chaired by Francisco Pereira Passos. Organized by the Minister of Empire Affairs João Alfredo Correa de Oliveira (1870-1875), the Comissão de Melhoramentos produced two reports (1875 and 1876) and presented proposals for urban reform ranging from the opening of new streets to the leveling of the Castelo and Santo Antônio hills.

Image description: This is an old photograph of an adult man. He is facing the camera, with white hair and a thick beard. His expression is serene. He is wearing a dark suit with a black bow tie and a white shirt. The image is in sepia tones, giving it a vintage look.

Influenced by the urbanization ideas of the Frenchman Georges-Eugène Haussmann for Paris, the January 1875 report (published the following year) presented proposals for the city's outskirts, covering the neighborhoods of São Cristóvão, Engenho Velho, Andaraí, Catete, and Botafogo. Among other measures, the document proposed the complete landfilling of the Canal do Mangue (inaugurated in 1860) or its extension to the Andaraí region (today the neighborhoods of Andaraí, Grajaú, Vila Isabel, and Tijuca) and, from there, to the sea; the opening of new streets, the widening and straightening of existing roads and squares in order to create Boulevares; standardization of the height of façades and the length of dwellings, and the definition of a straight layout for the avenues, with a standard proportion between the width of streets and sidewalks. The idea of beginning the reform plan with the city's outskirts was explained by the desire to "decongest" downtown, encouraging the population to migrate to more distant areas.

Image description: This is an image of a postcard showing Avenida do Mangue in Rio de Janeiro. On the left side, we see a series of buildings and a bridge over a canal. As we move to the right, the canal extends toward the horizon, where we find a mountain. In the center, smoke rises from a chimney, indicating the presence of an industry. The sky is clear, and the canal reflects the surrounding structures.

The February 1876 report (published in 1877) highlighted the “Cidade Velha,” presenting proposals for the old center. Like the first one, it emphasized the importance of reorganizing a series of streets, such as the widening of Rua Larga de São Joaquim (present-day Avenida Marechal Floriano) and Rua Visconde de Inhaúma, as well as sections of Rua da Saúde (present-day Sacadura Cabral) and Rua dos Ourives (of which two sections remain: the present-day Rua Rodrigo Silva and Rua Miguel Couto). It also proposed the widening and straightening of Rua da Prainha (whose preserved section is the present-day Rua Leandro Martins) and its extension to Rua Estreita de São Joaquim (an extension of Rua Larga de São Joaquim). The report also called for the widening of the old Rua da Imperatriz, which in the early twentieth century became today's Rua Camerino.

In addition to the widening of the streets, the Improvements Commission also revived some of the recommendations from the report by military engineer Beaurepaire-Rohan regarding the leveling of the hills of Santo Antônio, Castelo, and Santo Antônio as vital for the city, since their removal would facilitate air circulation. Strict standards for the construction of private houses were established as early as the 1st report, which standardized everything from the height to the thickness of the walls, especially in working-class housing which, according to the engineers, was chiefly responsible for the state of unhealthiness in Rio de Janeiro. In the 2nd document, concern over tenements and other collective housing reappears.

Image description: This is an old black-and-white photograph of a mountainous city. On the left side, we see an area with houses and buildings close to the hillside. In the center, there is a taller building, possibly a church, with a green roof. On the right, the city continues rising to a higher point, where another important building is located. In the background, we see a hill covered with trees. At the bottom of the image, there is text mentioning "Morro do Castello, Sta Tereza e La Gloria" and "Rio de Janeiro."

Despite the various recommendations to make the city healthier and more in line with the standards of major European cities, few proposals from the Comissão de Melhoramentos were implemented. When the 2nd report was published (1877), the new Minister, José Bento Cunha de Figueiredo, justified the small number of changes made with the fact that the city's healthiness had improved, which could be seen from the drop in the number of deaths from yellow fever (1,292 in 1876 and 213 in 1877).

Even so, the Commission was responsible for putting urban issues up for debate and producing deeper reflection on the city. It also created the conditions for the founding of the Clube de Engenharia (Engineering Club) (1880), chaired by Pereira Passos and with the participation of Paulo de Frontin, Francisco Bicalho, Carlos Sampaio, and Vieira Souto.