Very nice find.
I am amazed at how built up mid century Europe was, when I see pictures like this.
What a strange thing to say, what with most major European cities having history stretching back over a 1000 years. At the turn of the 20th century the population of London (est. 2000 years ago) was already at the 6.5 million mark. The growth of urban areas and industrial centres started in the early 19th century. I would imagine it was similar situation in France, Germany and other European countries too.
In this footage you can see the build up of suburban Britain. After the first world war there was a program to build social housing to ease overcrowding in city centres. Returning soldiers from the trenches simply did not want to return to the squalor they had left behind when they went off to fight for their country. After surviving the trenches they wanted something better for themselves and their families....quite right too.
What amazes me is that there is little footage of the sprawling central city areas, the same areas that people "escaped" from when they emigrated to the US.
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free;
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless,
Tempest-tossed to me
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Europe had been very built up, very industrial and very overcrowded for very a long time before this footage was taken.
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