means "widening" in Spanish. It is used to name the development areas of Spanish cities around the end of the 19th century, when the

demographic explosion Demography () is the statistical study of populations, especially human beings. Demographic analysis examines and measures the dimensions and dynamics of populations; it can cover whole societies or groups defined by criteria such as ed ...

and the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

prompted the tearing down of the old city wall and the construction of neighborhoods under grid plans.

Background

The program of city extensions in Spain began simultaneously in 1860 with the plans for

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Ildefons Cerdà Ildefons Cerdà i Sunyer (; es, Ildefonso Cerdá Suñer; December 23, 1815, Centelles – August 21, 1876, Caldas de Besaya) was a Spanish urban planner and engineer who designed the 19th-century "extension" of Barcelona called the ''Eixampl ...

and Madrid by

Carlos María de Castro Carlos María de Castro (24 September 1810 - 2 November 1893) was a Spanish architect, engineer and urban planner. He created the plan of the urban expansion (''Ensanche'') of Madrid. The New Plan of Madrid was commissioned in 1857 and adopted in 1 ...

, influenced by

Haussmann Hausmann is a German word with former meanings "householder" and "freeholder" and current meaning "house-husband." Hausmann (Hausman), Haussmann (Haussman), Haußmann, Hauszmann, etc. are German-origin surnames that may refer to: Hausmann * C ...

's transformation of Paris from 1852 (and, in turn, have been said to have influenced Haussmann's later projects). Those extended cities beyond their traditional limits by demolishing city walls, transforming riverbanks and subdividing the – rural land outside the city walls. were generally based on principles articulated by Cerdà. These included reserving significant open space by requiring mid-block open space and whole block parks. The height of buildings was set by reference to the width of the adjacent street. Many of these requirements were modified, and the building volumes increased, by later amendments beginning in 1864 (Madrid). It is specifically used for: *The (Catalan for ) of Barcelona, planned by Cerdà *The of the city of

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

. *The in

Palma, Majorca Palma (; ; also known as ''Palma de Mallorca'', officially between 1983–88, 2006–08, and 2012–16) is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is situated on the south coast of Mallorca ...

. *The of

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

under the Plan Castro by Carlos María de Castro enacted by Royal Decree in 1860. *The Ensanche de Bilbao after the annexation of the former village of

Abando Abando, formerly known as ''San Vicente de Abando'', is one of the eight districts of Bilbao, Basque Country (Spain). It covers most of the city's centre, located on the left bank of the estuary of Bilbao. It is the only district of Bilbao with ...

References

{{Expand Basque, Zabalgune (hirigintza), date=April 2009 * Urban planning in Spain 19th century in Spain