Entrepreneurial Initiatives, Foreign Investment and Marketing in the Implementation of Gas Services in the Portuguese Cities of Lisbon and Porto During the Second Half of the Nineteenth Century

Abstract

The nineteenth century cities were marked by the concern with public hygiene, the embellishment of urban space and the existence of leisure spaces that would respond to the new standards of health and well-being of the urban population. The attention given to public health and the environmental conditions existing in cities were directly linked to the development of medicine and hygienic ideas.

The new conditions of security and welfare that were required for the cities forced the introduction and modernisation of urban infrastructure, including water supply networks, sewage, gas and electricity. In Latin European countries, they were mostly implemented by private companies, both national and foreign, which had won the concession to operate them in tenders put out by the Councils. This text addresses the above-mentioned aspects in the gas service in the cities of Lisbon and Porto in the second half of the nineteenth century. To ensure that they had the necessary consumption to guarantee the viability of the business, companies developed a series of commercial strategies aimed at encouraging private consumption of gas, notably in households. These initiatives included advertisements, notably in newspapers, the display of gas appliances and the granting of payment facilities for the gas appliances.