The Historic Centre in Spanish Industrial and Post-Industrial Cities

The congestion of the city area within the walls along the 19th century and the economic and social crisis of historic centres during most of the 20th century led to their deterioration. The theoretical conceptualization and practical implementation of domestic improvement and reform programmes have changed with time. With the beginning of the new century, urban dynamics in a globalized space are making historic places into real scenes for economic exploitation related to massive and residential tourism with a cultural brand design, as well as to property for well-to-do population. As a consequence, the social component took a secondary place in town planning theory. In this context, our essay is aimed at studying the response of town planning to the recovery of a historic city fully sharing the dynamics of a postmodernist and global metropolis.