Despite centuries of
conquestial inclination to order and partition newly occupied territory, the
urban phenomenon of orthogonal grid planning was not theoretically confirmed
until the sixteenth century, when the Spanish Crown developed a complex set of
“Settlement Ordinances,” relating to how to found and build colonial cities.
Decreed in 1573, these laws formed part of a larger body of legislative
policies known as the Laws of the Indies,
issued to regulate social, political and economic life within Spanish imperial
possessions.
Detailed instructions
catered to each facet of community creation; city locations were to be selected
based maximum potential for land utilization, city-scapes were to be organized
according to a strict physical, spiritual and social order, and natives were to
be dealt with according to “pacification” techniques. The "Settlement Ordinances"
were based on the culmination of successful settlement strategies, and
essentially formulated practical ways in which to establish efficient,
prosperous and obedient colonial cities.
The specific criteria
outlined by the Spanish makes it possible to visualize this potential ideality
of Spanish urban form: newly founded cities would be established on elevated,
fertile land, navigable by both land and sea; special attention would paid to
the influence of urban design, with the Ordinances decreeing use of a cord and
ruler to divide the plan into squares of specific proportions; plazas were to
be at the center of the town, oriented to accommodate social and cultural
practices; while churches would be distributed evenly, with the main temple in
isolation to give it authority.
The urban development
techniques outlined within the Laws of
the Indies construct a colonial city based on practical strategy, organized
in a way that would spatially reiterate an imperial sense of order.
WORKS CITED:
Gasparini, Graziano. The Spanish American Grid-Plan: The Urban Bureaucratic Form.
