Plaza mayor vs aesthetic liberalism: alternative models of public space in Seville

Abstract

The concave urban space, a morphological innovation that dominated the European Modern Age, has an extensive historiography and numerous identifiable types: the Spanish plaza mayor, the French place royale, or the English squares. However, not enough attention has been paid to the examples of cities that did not succeed in implementing these plans, or to the alternative models that emerged from the oppositions they encountered on the ground. This is why the case of Seville and its Plaza de San Francisco, in apparent conflict with a general history of public space, is presented here — it shows, distinct from the plaza mayor, specifically the emergence of a city project based on the initiative of the private owners, with the connivance of the urban planning authorities. By consulting primary sources, a historical development of these processes is established as well as their consequences for the contemporary city.