Environment, Infrastructure and Epidemics in Late Ottoman Bursa: A Perspective from Environmental History

Abstract

Examining epidemic diseases from the perspective of environmental history demonstrates that epidemics were not merely the result of biological processes, but were produced within socio-ecological interactions shaped by water infrastructures, industrial production, waste regimes, animal mobility and rural–urban circulation. By centring the concepts of environmental memory (continuity or rupture between past, present and future) and infrastructural inertia (inaction, stagnation, immutability and consequently deterioration and obsolescence), this study reveals that, despite administrative reforms, the risks associated with epidemics persisted through the material environment and deeply entrenched infrastructures. Through the case of Bursa, this article argues that epidemics cannot be understood independently from their environmental and infrastructural contexts. Archival documents and sanitary reports demonstrate that the structural deterioration of Bursa’s water distribution systems, the organic waste generated by silk production, the role of animal markets in zoonotic circulation and rural–urban mobility collectively shaped epidemic dynamics. Although modern public health measures such as quarantine and cordon practices were implemented, contaminated water flows, production-based waste, uncontrolled animal movements and livelihood-driven compulsory mobility limited the effectiveness of these measures. The study concludes that the effectiveness of public health policies depended not only on medical interventions, but also on governance mechanisms compatible with water management, waste control, animal circulation and socio-economic realities. In this way, the study aims to move the management of epidemics in Late Ottoman provincial cities beyond a state-centred narrative of reform and to emphasise the long-term impact of environmental continuities and material infrastructures.

The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Environment and History, 2026 · DOI ↗