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This book tells the story of how the monarchy aimed at creating a new capital city in a remote and forgotten area of the empire. It also shows how the local Creole bourgeoisie rapidly assumed the role of urban developers, and enhanced their economic status by investing in and controlling the Buenos Aires’ property market. In a short period, from 1776 to 1810, the urban transformation of Buenos Aires helped increase the Crown’s revenues and considerably reduced contraband trade. Nevertheless, urban changes generated an internal struggle for power for the control of the city between the Spanish loyalist and the local wealthier Creoles. As this book concludes, for an empire such as the Spanish, which was built upon a network of cities, the Crown’s loss of the control of Buenos Aires’ urban space was a serious threat to its power that foreshadowed Argentina’s wars of independence.
“Written in a clear engaging way and beautifully illustrated, this excellent original scholarly study of Buenos Aires in the late eighteenth century based on archival research not only adds greatly to our knowledge of the history of urban planning and architecture in Latin America but also reveals new thinking about how societies were seeking to reflect their status on the eve of independence.” — Linda Newson, Emeritus Professor, Centre for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, University of London, UK.
List of Figures and Tables; Acknowledgements; Introduction; 1. The Spanish Empire before the Bourbon Reforms; 2. The River Plate before 1776 and the Bourbon Reforms; 3. Urban Expansion; 4. The Image of Power; 5. Ceremonies of Power; 6. Disciplining Porteños’ Private Architecture; 7. The British Assault on the River Plate; Appendix 1; Bibliography; Index