Urban Development in Spain: A Historical Overview
The Process of Urban Development in Spain
Gradual concentration of the city’s population, economic activities, and the most outstanding innovations, spreading these processes to the environment. This process can be differentiated into:
- Pre-industrial
- Industrial
- Post-industrial
Pre-industrial Urbanization
Chronology:
From the origin of cities until the dawn of industrialization in the 19th century.
Features:
- Modest construction: the urbanization rate is less than 10% of the population.
- Average size: between 5,000 and 10,000 inhabitants.
Urbanization Factors:
Factors that favored urbanization:
- Strategic-military: Cities controlled the territory.
- Political and administrative: The city as the base for political power and land organization.
- Economic: Controlled resources, developed commercial and artisanal activities.
- Religious: Seat of religious power.
Milestones:
- Origins: Cities in Spain started in Greek and Phoenician times on the Mediterranean coast, born as commercial, mining, agricultural, and handicraft centers.
- Romanization: Many cities were founded, many of which still exist (Barcelona, Seville, Valencia, Zaragoza). The Romans created an urban network connected by roads for commercial and military purposes. The Roman decline and Germanic invasions led to a de-urbanization phase, and many cities disappeared.
- Middle Ages: A new phase of development in two different spaces. The Muslim space founded new cities but mostly took advantage of previous settlements. With the advance of the Reconquista, Christian towns came to dominate, with Muslim inhabitants expelled or segregated in separate neighborhoods. In the Christian area, urban life was limited. However, it expanded since the 10th century with the Reconquista and repopulation, creating municipalities based on new cities or those retaken from the Muslims. From the 12th and 13th centuries, the reactivation of trade generated a redevelopment process along major commercial routes.
- Modern Age: The urbanization process oscillated depending on demographic, economic, and political factors. In the 16th century, urbanization grew due to continued population growth, economic expansion, and the political-military power of Austria. In the 17th century, it stagnated due to demographic and economic crises, as well as major territorial losses. In the 18th century, with the Bourbons, the urbanization process revived thanks to the strengthening of royal power and demographic and economic recovery.
Industrial Construction
Chronology:
Ranging from the beginnings of industrialization in the 19th century until the economic crisis of 1975.
Features:
- Significant increase in the urbanization rate, surpassing the rural population.
Urbanization Factors:
- Administrative: The provincial division in 1833 led to the growth of provincial capitals.
- Socio-economic: The birth and development of modern industry in cities attracted the rural population.
Milestones:
- Until the mid-19th century: The concentration of population in cities was small due to the weakness of the industrialization process, which mainly affected the growth of provincial capitals.
- From the mid-19th century until the Civil War (1936): Urban growth was important, doubling the urbanization rate, primarily caused by industrialization, which led to the first rural exodus.
- The Civil War and postwar (1936-1959): Urban growth was down due to supply problems and the destruction of cities. However, the industrial northeast urban development triangle began to form.
- The development phase (1960-1975): The largest urban and economic growth of the 20th century. The main driver was the expansion of industry, which attracted workers from the countryside to large industrialized cities. This, added to natural population growth (baby boom), increased the population by 30%. Tertiary activities were highlighted in this urbanization process.
Post-industrial Urbanization
Chronology:
1975 to today.
Features:
- Low urban growth rate in two stages. In the first transition, the urbanization rate stabilized, and in the second, de-urbanization, there is an urban decrease. Most Spanish cities are in the first stage, since de-urbanization affected major cities or industries most affected by the crisis.
Factors of Urbanization:
- Changes in urbanization factors, as industry became less important due to the industrial crisis that began in the late 1970s and the phenomenon of industrial distribution. In traditional industrial areas, industry remains the main factor of urbanization, and large cities attract new high-technology sectors.
- Increased importance of tertiary activities as a factor of urbanization, especially in big cities (Madrid and Barcelona), where top-level activities and decision centers are located, and tourist areas (Balearic Islands).
- Stops the growth process of large cities and capitals in terms of attracting residents in favor of medium and small cities around them, in a scattering process of urbanization.
Urban Structure
Division of the city into areas with different morphology and functions. As a result of the long process of Spanish urbanization, Spanish cities have a complex structure. This structure usually consists of:
- The Old Town
- The Expansion
- The Suburbs
We can talk about agglomerations when cities have connected with nearby towns.
The Old Town: The Pre-industrial City
The old part of town was urbanized from its origins until the industrialization of the 19th century. It has elements from different eras until today thanks to its history:
The Legacy of the Pre-industrial Era
The old town preserved from the era before the industrial revolution had the following characteristics:
- It used to be walled: for defensive or health purposes.
- The map used to be irregular.
- The plot was closed, and the predominant building was low-rise houses with yards and gardens. Buildings such as churches and palaces were also highlighted.
- Land uses were diverse, including private workshops, shops, warehouses, and public buildings. This did not preclude the specialization of certain neighborhoods.
- Socially diverse groups coexisted: while there was a certain hierarchy from the center, where the elite resided and the most prominent city buildings were located.
Historically, the differences between pre-industrial societies created different models of cities:
- Roman City: Regular maps with two main routes from north to south and from east to west. In the middle was the forum, where the main buildings were located.
- Medieval City: The model for most old Spanish cities. The old walled Muslim city had a mosque and the market, then the suburbs. The plan was very irregular, with narrow and winding streets, often dead ends. The Christian city was also walled, with varied levels.
- Renaissance City: Districts were created to regulate beyond the old city gates, also with squares. Notable buildings from this period include town halls, palaces, and convents.
- Baroque and Illustrated City: The beautification of the city stands out, with the construction of wide and straight streets, laid out in perspective, large squares and gardens, and promenades with trees.
In the industrial era, the old town saw major changes:
- The Map: Major changes were observed in some cities, such as the widening of streets and squares, the construction of major roads, and the renovation policies of the 1960s that sought to maximize land use, changing street layouts or opening new ones.
- The Plot: It became denser to occupy the old space, and the building underwent changes. In the 19th century, many buildings changed use due to disentailments, and housing became taller. In the late 19th century, historicism emerged, mixing architectural styles from different periods for new buildings and incorporating new materials. In the 1960s, old buildings were replaced by taller ones with more volume, often without correlation with the traditional harmony of the area.
- Land Use: The old town has seen a gradual shift towards tertiary activities.
- Socially: The old town has experienced progressive social segregation as low-income social groups have settled there, with consequent deterioration.
Currently (from the 1990s): Rehabilitation policies have begun to conserve, restore, and revitalize the historic center. Pedestrianization policies, aid, and rehabilitation policies promoting a mix of uses are predominant.
The Expansion: The Industrial City
Between the mid-19th and the first third of the 20th century, industrialization caused a rural exodus to cities, causing their expansion beyond the pre-industrial walls.
Industrial cities grew in different neighborhoods:
- The Bourgeois Expansion (Eixample): A new urban space that embodies bourgeois ideas, offering benefits in housing, shops, and transport provision. It was created to meet the growth of cities according to the interests of the bourgeoisie. Walls were demolished and replaced by promenades, differentiating the old from the new city. Characterized by a regular grid map, wider streets than the old town, low-density plots in large blocks, including small bourgeois palaces and mid-height buildings in historicist style. The predominant land use was bourgeois residential. The first examples were the Eixamples of Madrid and Barcelona. Eventually, the plots became denser with taller buildings and apartment blocks in the 1960s.
- Working-class Neighborhoods and Industrial Suburbs: Workers who migrated to industrial cities could not afford to live in the old town or the bourgeois expansion. They settled in slums and suburbs that arose around the outskirts along highways and roads leading out of the city, or on the edge of industries and railway stations. These districts had different plans, closed and dense plots, and the predominant building was small-scale housing, flats, or houses. These working-class districts have joined the city. The closest and best-connected areas have been remodeled and revalued, with the consequent displacement of the original population. The least accessible areas remain marginalized, with increasing deterioration.
The Current Periphery
Since the mid-1950s and especially from the 1960s, major Spanish cities significantly increased in size due to population growth, industrialization, and economic outsourcing, which involved the expansion of the built area with extensive suburbs along the main transport axes. Today, this has been accentuated by creating peri-urban or suburban areas, with the phenomenon of urban sprawl. In the outskirts, we can distinguish:
- Slums: Shacks or shelters built on land illegally and without organization or planning. They are self-constructed and lack basic services like water and electricity. In recent years, there have been campaigns to eradicate slums and resettle the population.
- Neighborhoods with Officially Promoted Housing: Many homes were built between the 1940s and 1960s. They formed mostly open-plan neighborhoods with monotonous, low-quality apartment blocks. Ex: Korea in Palma de Mallorca.
- Private Housing Estates: Developed since the 1960s. The plots are open, or in blocks with large gaps between towers for private gardens or parks. The buildings adopted an international style, with geometric shapes, creating a monotonous urban landscape of “bedroom communities.”
- Areas of Detached Houses: Common since the 1980s. The plots are open, with only individual homes or townhouses, and the land use is primarily residential. They accommodate high or middle classes seeking open spaces and a more attractive environment.
The outskirts also include industrial and service areas seeking cheap and conveniently located land. Industrial areas are called industrial parks and new industrial spaces, such as business and technology parks in areas of high environmental quality. Service areas refer to department stores and facilities found on the outskirts of many cities.