ANALYSIS OF MADRID'S URBAN PLAN

The image above shows the urban plan of Madrid. It depicts a complex space that reflects the different stages of development throughout the history. We can highlight the following areas:

-          The Historic Center:    

It is the part of the city that was formed from its source to the industrialization of the nineteenth century.

 The Historic Center of Madrid presents a location next to the Manzanares River that, as an obstacle, has determined that the city expands from the geographical point of view to the northwest.

Its centralized location in the territory and its political situation as the capital of the State, has contributed to its constant growth, as it is demostrated by the different plans, we can observe in its morphology the different areas that reflect its historical growth.

In the Historic Center we can observe two sectors:  

   

 + The medieval; which belongs to the original location of the city,
it has the typical defensive character of medieval cities. It emerges in an elevated zone next to the river. It describes an irregular plan, as a consequence of an unplanned growth. It’s a city limited by walls, with small and narrow streets because of the lack of space.  The city appears around the Royal Palace, ancient Alcázar. The most important streets rises up from the center radially.

 + Development of the centuries XV-XVII. This historic moment of the growth and development of the the city it’s connected to its character of capital.

With the begining of the industrialization the urban population increased and produced important transformations in the Historic Center:

     + New streets are remodeled and expanded with the purpose of facilitating communications, such as, the Gran Vía.

   + Ultimate demise of the walled enclosures which will lead to the planned expansion of new residential areas: the extensions.

-          The extension district:

Bourgeois extensions of Madrid is located in the east.

It shows a regular route, orthogonal, which facilitates the parcelling, the selling of the land and the organization of the circulation. Closed buildings blocks with courtyards. Destined to the middle and upper classes primarily.

The development of the transport permited the firsts tryings of peripheral urbanization, among which stands out the Linear City of Arturo Soria. The proyect was made taking as an axe a wide central Street, around which there had to be built , in regular plots, unifamiliar houses with orchard and garden. Only partially implemented.

They rise up new widennings, following the principal ways of communication, they expand with a planification more and more irregular, until they covered existing urban and rural centers. These suburban towns have irregular planes. Is the case for example of Vallecas (South West).

The speed of this growth and the need to build housing for the working population, will lead to a messy and fuzzy planning, which do not have the quality or urban design, or equipment, or in buildings ...

-          The suburbs:

They were built as a result of the huge growth of the city since the civil war. We can distinguish different types of areas:

First of all, the residential areas: They are menial; former slums, subsequently improved; various types of villages in official promotion of the 1950s, with few bad materials and equipment, received after renovations and improvements; towers blocks and neighborhoods with open and different levels in the decades of 1950-1970 plot (Concepción, Aluche.) and developments of low density detached houses from the 1970s.

        Secondly, the industrial area: they are also of different type: industrial estates related to the development policy of the time, mainly located in the southern sector, near the River Manzanares and new industrial spaces of higher quality (industrial and business parks in the northern and northeast.

      Finally, the áreas of services and facilities: looking at the periphery cheaper areas: commercial, schools, health centers ... from the 1980s.