POLÍTICAS PÚBLICAS E GESTÃO DO ABASTECIMENTO DE ÁGUA ÀS CIDADES PORTUGUESAS NA PRIMEIRA METADE DO SÉCULO XX.

Water supply and sanitation services, essential elements of the technical networks associated with urban modernization, were part of the sanitary revolution and arose in response to criticisms from residents and experts in medicine and public hygiene. During a period of unprecedented population growth in cities, urban unhealthiness became a pressing issue for public authorities, who sought to establish the legal and institutional conditions necessary for the construction and management of new infrastructures. These authorities, either directly or through municipalization, took on the responsibility for these infrastructures. In Portugal, although the adoption of new technical and technological solutions for urban unhealthiness had been a topic of debate since the 19th century, it was only in the following century that it was effectively addressed. The purpose of this study is to analyze the implementation of modern water supply infrastructures in Portugal during the first half of the 20th century, with an emphasis on solutions for the construction and management of water collection, conveyance, and distribution networks, as well as on public policy measures associated with the process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]