Urban Planning and the Evolution of Modern Cities
10 Concepts of the City
Quantitative or statistical criteria are based on figures. The INE (National Statistics Institute) considers urban population municipalities to be those with more than 10,000 people. There are small towns that do not reach 10,000 inhabitants that are considered rural villages.
Qualitative Criteria for Urban Spaces
Qualitative criteria define the city based on sociological, functional, and morphological space. The morphological criterion affects the formal aspect of the city and is determined by high building density and population, as well as the type of collective buildings and their height.
The functional approach is based on urban economic activities. Sociologists define the city as having an urban culture; this culture has spread to the countryside through the media. The spatial approach is based on the ability of the city to organize the space around it, exercise its influence over villages, and interact with other cities.
The Widening Urban Industrial City
Modern industry attracted rural populations to industrial cities. Growth in the cities surpassed the old limits, and widenings were created for bourgeois class districts and landscaped industrial areas.
The Bourgeois Widening
The bourgeois widening tried to respond to the growth of cities in accordance with the interests of the bourgeoisie; in most cases, the city walls were brought down. The enlargement is a new space that reflects bourgeois ideas of order, health, and other benefits, alongside the construction of commercial housing and transport.
Characteristics of Early Widenings
At the time of its creation, a regular grid level and low-intensity plot were adopted in broad blocks and spaces occupied by extensive gardens. The edification included some bourgeois villas and garden villas. Land use was primarily residential for the bourgeoisie, given the high prices of land and buildings. These widenings were first implemented in Barcelona and Madrid.
Evolution and Modernization
Over time, these widenings experienced modifications. The plot thickened as blocks were built up on all four sides, and many parks were replaced by construction. The building trend was to verticalize, adding penthouses and replacing bourgeois villas and houses with more modern housing blocks of flats. Land use in the widening began receiving tertiary functions that ranged from the historical center to its main streets. Currently, some areas have undergone modernization operations and the beautification of buildings.