200 



COMMISSION ON lil'ILDING DISTRICTS 



to be granted that restrictions are needed from the standpoint of residence; 

 it is in the interest of conservation to divide the city into different districts 

 in order that all of the land may be fully used to its proper limit. 



But the regulation of the bulk of buildings is not enough. Their use 

 must also be regulated within limits, for the use of buildings also affects the 

 health, morals and safety of the people. The best use cannot be made of 

 any building unless the use which is to be made of adjoining buildings is 

 also known. It is not possible, however, to regulate the use of buildings 

 too minutely, and the divisions suggested by the tentative regulations pro- 

 posed by the Commission offer a reasonable solution of the problem, namely, 

 restriction of districts to residential, business or industrial uses. 



Without going into detail, attention may be called to the fact that the 

 use of buildings in a district may influence the public health, in ways similar 

 to those already mentioned. Certain industries produce smoke, dust, fumes 

 or odors, which are objectionable and which tend to make these industries 

 undesirable in a business or residential district. The nature of the industry 

 or business controls the volume and character of the traffic on sidewalks and 

 streets. It may affect the nature of the pavement required and the noise of 

 vehicles and the odors from the streets ; it may also affect the safety of those 

 using the streets. The location of residential, business and industrial areas 

 also influence transportation and the manner of transportation has an in- 

 fluence on public health. Mention might be made of churches, schools, 

 hospitals, public buildings, the relation of business and industrial establish- 

 ments to the homes of the people, but it would be going too much into detail 

 to pursue the subject further. In many individual instances the public health 

 authorities have been called upon to abate individual nuisances. The tenta- 

 tive regulations proposed by the Commission are directed not to the abate- 

 ment of nuisances, but to their prevention. While these regulations are 

 likely to have their greatest use in increasing and stabilizing real estate 

 values in the city, a more vital reason for their adoption is that they will 

 enhance the health, safety, comfort and morals of the people. 



Congestion 



We now come to what from the standpoint of disease transmission is 

 the most important benefit to be derived from a districting of the city; 

 namely, the relief of congestion. If there is any one thing which has been 

 definitely established by the new science of public health it is that com- 

 municable diseases spread through a community in proportion to the oppor- 

 tunities for personal contact, or, to be more specific, for the excretions of 

 one person to be conveyed to other persons. This personal contact may 

 occur in the home, in the school, in the place of business, in public convey- 

 ances, or on the street, or wherever people meet. Crowding tends to increase 

 opportunities for contact, and overcrowded cars and overcrowded rooms are 

 both objectionable. In proportion as people are divided into groups so that 

 the members of each group do not come in contact with the members of 

 other groups the opportunities for contact are lessened. It is not difficult 

 to see how segregation of industries, with provision for people to live 

 relatively near to the places where they work, will tend to reduce the 

 opportunities for the spread of disease by contact. Districting will therefore 

 tend to prevent the spread of disease. 



Data collected 



With the assistance of Professor James Ford, of Harvard University. 

 I have collected a large number of references taken from well known 



