Rye Hashiguchi
Email: rye.hashiguchi@kcl.ac.uk
PhD title: Maintaining the River, Shaping the City: Management of the Thames and Urban Culture in London, 1870–1914
In nineteenth-century London, rapid industrialisation led to significant water and air pollution, severely deteriorating the urban living environment. As the first city to experience both the so-called Industrial Revolution and modernisation, London's socioeconomic and technological development had profound effects on human life, society, and the environment. One notable urban problem was the pollution of the River Thames, London's historically important and iconic river. In response, a comprehensive sewer system and the Thames Embankment – often regarded as the largest public works project in Victorian London – were constructed in the mid-nineteenth century to improve urban conditions.
My PhD research focuses on the maintenance of the Thames and its associated infrastructure in the post-improvement period, from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century. Its aim is to elucidate the environmental, social, and cultural impacts of the Thames improvements from an urban historical perspective. First, this project examines how the river environment was managed and maintained after the completion of the major engineering works, arguing that post-construction maintenance is essential to understanding long-term environmental and social effects. Second, it explores the broader social and cultural consequences of these interventions on urban life. In doing so, this study demonstrates that the transformation of the Thames was not merely an engineering achievement, but also a catalyst for wider social and cultural change in modern London.
1st Supervisor: Prof. Paul Readman
2nd Supervisor: Dr. Chris Manias
BIO
Born in Tokyo and raised in Nagano, Japan, I completed my BA at Musashi University and MA in History at Chuo University. I initially joined King's as a Visiting Research Student and have been pursuing my PhD here since 2025. I specialise in the history of nineteenth-century London. Centring on urban history, my research employs various sources to explore social, cultural, environmental, technological, and engineering history in an interdisciplinary framework.
PUBLICATIONS
'Constructing the Thames Embankment in Nineteenth-Century London: Promotion of Public Works by the Metropolitan Board of Works,' The Studies in Western History, 278 (2024), 39–56. (Published in Japanese).
CONFERENCE PAPERS
'Thames Flood Prevention in Late Nineteenth-Century London: Controlling Urban Space by the Metropolitan Board of Works,' Urban History Group Conference 2025, University of Leicester, 4 September 2025.
'Cultural History of 'Night' in London as Seen from the River Thames: Experiment on Electric Lighting on the Victoria Embankment,' The Victorian Studies Society of Japan, 23rd Annual Conference, Kansai University, 18 November 2023 (given in Japanese).
RESEARCH GRANTS, AWARDS AND PRIZES
Graduate Degree-Seeking Scholarship, Japan Student Services Organisation, 2025–2028.
Research Grant, K. Matsushita Foundation, 2024–2025.
