Water, Sewage and Sanitation: Infrastructure Projects and Public Health in Izmir in the Late Ottoman Empire

Abstract

As an international commercial hub and the administrative capital of the province of Aydın, Izmir benefitted from a range of municipal services including paving, lighting, and the construction of water lines and a sewage system, as well as various sanitary applications in the late Ottoman Empire. In addition to the private companies’ ‘concession hunting’, the infrastructure projects such as the distribution of water and the establishment of a sewage system were also the result of the public’s demands, often seen in the columns of the local press in Izmir. By delving into the imperial and local primary sources, this article attempts to understand the application of infrastructure projects and their implications in Izmir in the late Ottoman Empire.