Change the City to Change Society. Republican Plazas in the Province of Buenos Aires (Argentina) 1820-1943

Abstract

One of the most significant episodes in Argentinian urbanization was the establishment of more than a hundred cities and towns in the Province of Buenos Aires during the 19th century. These cities were built following an urban model that combined the Spanish colonial tradition with new republican ideas. In this model, the central square was the main civic center and represented spatially the quest for modernization of the new nation state in newly populated territories. This article analyzes the location, design, and cultural and social functions of these squares by studying the original plans of the cities and the urban development. These places had a singular meaning for the city and its citizens due to their central location and composition, but mainly because of the buildings located around them: they housed the new activities related to the “civilizing process” of this territory. The republican plazas spatially reflect the attempt of the state to modernize a rural society by creating social cohesion between people with different cultural backgrounds.