Kyron Richard

POSC 469
Professor Seijo
1 Oct 2014

Theme Parks, Hot Dogs and Expectations: The Urban Developments of Castile Leon
When reecting on the architectural functionality of the old cities of Castile Leon, I think of
Coney Island in relation to New York City. During the scorching, and rather bleak, New York
summers, the Brooklyn waterfront serves as a break from the dreary weather, with amusement
parks and hot dogs of questionable origin relieving the sweaty brows of residents of the ve
boroughs.
However, during the harsh winter months the theme parks and attractions are covered in snow,
there is no purpose in visiting Coney Island. In this community the businesses and natural
elements of the geography serve a singular function during times of warmer weather. When this
function cannot be realized due to climate restrictions, like any other vacation destination, the
area becomes obsolete.
I see a similar underutilization in the cities we visited in Castile Leon. However, I do not believe
their current underutilization can solely be attributed to a lack of planning and foresight by
previous and current Spanish architects. Rather, there are simply axioms concerning time and
expiration of novelty that must be accepted. The innovation and use of buildings and the
functionality of a city decline over time as more technology becomes available and expectations
are increased. Succumbing to the pressure of this demand is understandable, especially in the
wake of governmental limitation that was the Franco regime.Even without restrictive measures,
however, it is virtually impossible for architects to keep pace with every new technological
advance or new discovery in the urban planning academia.
Even in light of these limitations, I believe more could have been accomplished if architects had
heeded the core of Jane Jacobs philosophy on urban planning: structures must serve more than
one primary function. It is difcult, and nearly impossible, to build for the future. Looking back
at the history of industrialization, architects in the mid-twentieth century had no possibility of
predicting the Information Age and the innovations it would demand from urban planners of the
future. The same idea remains true for Spanish architects. It is virtually impossible to plan entire
sections of cities for the future, while still maintaining the integrity and functionality of buildings
and plazas that are centuries old. The lesson that Jacobs has here, is that the older architectural
remnants of the city cannot become obsolete. Should they be preserved? Yes. However, not to the
point where they are limited to only being tourists attractions. In this case they only serve one
purpose, so naturally certain sections of a city will only be home to a few choice economic and
social functions.
We can have our relics, we need them. But in an effort to reect the standards of urbanization at
various historical periods, Spanish architects are not only out of touch with the needs of their
agrarian counterparts. It seems as though the modern portions of the cities of Castile Leon are
present in order to fulll the expectations of what a city should be, not to enhance the lives of
citizens.