Sanitary Laws in the Netherlands

During the second half of the nineteenth century, a general discussion on health and environment evolved in the Netherlands and other European countries. Towns and cities required the most urgent attention. Disrepair of buildings, industrialization, pollution, and expanding residential greenfield developments all posed problems of hygiene for residents. In response to the poor level of public health and to public protest, mostly from members of the middle class heavily involved in the modernization of the medical profession and promoting awareness of cleanliness, the government passed sanitary laws in 1865.