The «Ensanches» of Spain seen from Abroad: Ideological Aspects of their C&T Planning

Abstract

The paper contrasts historiographically the two notions within Spanish C&T Planning represented by the Ensanche/New Town movement of the second half of the 19C. and the present day school's «reform from within». This aim is said to call for a rigorous definition of the very idea of an «ensanche» as it was understood in the 1864 Act and embodied in the great variety of projects then approved. The «encouraging» and somewhat tardy character of the Act -this as to the projects already approved between 1859-64- makes it necessary to look into the administrative machinery in play as to the various stages of each project. For the author, the historical process set in motion in Barcelona and then seconded by Madrid must also be born in mind. The upshot of such a study is the discovery of three generations of projects which bring the question up to the early years of the 20 C., these owing much to the differing variety of city subject to such operations. It is the agencies for C&T Planning and thei r conflicting interests that are the determining factors that established the context within which Cerda's thought came to develop. The paper thus seeks to set his contribution to C&T Planning along with its important technical innovations within the context of what was being thought about the city and its evolution during the 19C.