Urban green land: Madrid as an example

Abstract

The paper begins with a brief account of the evolution of open space and/or green area policy in Madrid over the past fifty years and of the interventions and frustrations of this, insisting the while that such a sectorial tale must never be seen as seperable the overall context of the city's growth. The guiding principles inherant within the Master Planning Scheme (Plan General) of 1942-inevitably linked to the town and country planning of a post-war period- are seen to have held good for long enough, cropping up again, though slightly altered, in the Plan General of 1963 and even in that of 1985 at present in force. The paper then goes on the examine and draw conclusions from the degree to which such planning has been found inadequate or simply not accomplished. The problems inherant in the obtaining and administering of land, the placing, access to and usefulness of such spaces are also laid out, the paper going into depth on these headings when speaking of the present Plan General's (P.G.O.U.M.) first four years of being in force (1985-89), a plan that pretended to an «integrated model of city» that would allow for an «ambiental rebalancing of the city» and a full tying in of its open spaces and green areas within the common framework so that the living conditions of the citizens of Madrid might thus be bettered.