Excavation of pipe in residential street

Folio 0074, Caja 145_R

Archivo General de Puerto Rico > Colección Particular Felisa Rincón de Gautier (CP 85) > Serie Fotografías > Tema Obras Públicas > Caja 0145

San Juan

[1946-1968?]

Title assigned by the cataloguing team. Back. Stamp: "General Archive of Puerto Rico Felisa Rincón de Gautier Collection box #145 photo #74"

One of the most ambitious projects of Operation Manos a la Obra in Puerto Rico was the massive construction of sewer pipes and accessible drinking water for the general population. The creation of the Aqueduct and Sewer Authority was not only a project to facilitate access to water, but also the beginning of urban infrastructure planning using North American technology as a model on the island. The creation of aqueducts and drinking water pipes established a social reordering of the construction of homes planned as urbanizations in metropolitan areas. Social relations changed as a result of the modification of space, which became more individualistic and focused on nuclear families. This circumstantially improved the quality of life of citizens, but social inequalities persisted despite the colonial vision of “progress.” The labor force shows the persistent precariousness of the worker, despite the creation of an industrial society. In other words, inequalities not only of class, but also of race, were maintained during the period of industrialization on the island. There is a coloniality of knowledge wrapped in the myth of development as a vision of the future and abandoning agriculture, which was seen as outdated and technologically backward.

English Rights. (hyperlink)

Fundación Luis Muñoz Marín

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