[Public health aspects of construction and housing in former East Germany].

Abstract

In the former GDR, a series of central regulations governed the sanitary and hygienic aspects of town planning and building construction. Special analysis of the hygienic aspects of town planning was of particular importance and was performed by a standardised method by the planning authorities. In such an analysis both the existing hygienic conditions in an area to be built up or reconstructed had be included, as well as the planned hygienic conditions after putting the building measures into practice. The complicated way of planning and the possibility of rejecting hygienic considerations in favour of political decisions proved to be an obstacle to quick and hygienically satisfactory realisation of planned investments.