La geografía histórica de las propuestas para la Gran Vía de Madrid, 1860-1905

In memóriam Francisco Javier Ayala-Carcedo

Abstract

The Geography of the proposals for the Gran Vía de Madrid, 1860-1905

In the last half of the XIX century, Paris became the model of urban development and its boulevards served as the unifying element in the urban renewal of its core. The Parisian boulevard was imitated in a number of major cities throughout the world, not only because it was aesthetically pleasing, but also because it provided more open space for salubrity and satisfied the need of expanding market economies for greater accessibility. This paper focuses on the Gran Vía in Madrid: its origins, suggested designs, and rationales, as presented in the proposals of Ildefons Cerdà, Carlos Velasco, Lucas Mallada, and José López Sallaberry and Francisco Andrés Octavio Palacios. The contexts and relative merits of each proposal are discussed, and the author examines why the Madrid government preferred the López Sallaberry-Octavio Palacios Plan, which was officially sanctioned in 1905. A system of boulevards never materialized in Madrid, and although the planners intended to open circulation, to meliorate hygiene, and to rationalize land use in Madrid’s core, the Gran Vía constructed has fallen short on all counts.

Received:  20-09-2004