A los cuatro vientos: Las ciudades de la America Hispanica

摘要

The Spanish empire is often described as an urban-based empire, with power and wealth concentrated in cities that acted as springboards for the colonisation of new regions and centres from which the administration and exploitation of land and native communities in the surrounding countryside could be conducted. Although cities played an important role in Spanish colonial history, apart from studies of their early foundations and, more recently, the changes they experienced in the Enlightenment period, the power they symbolised has attracted relatively little attention. In A los cuatro vientos, Manuel Lucena Giraldo starts by examining how archaeologists, historians, social scientists and others have defined the city, showing how over time definitions have shifted from the material to the non-material. The discussion then indicates how the focus of urban historians of Latin America has moved from a concern with the physical character or architectural history of the city, where the emphasis was on its layout and buildings, to one that considers the social dimensions raised by issues of preservation and cultural heritage. This is a useful review for those unfamiliar with the conceptual dimensions of urban history as related to Latin America.