Evolution and Permanence of City-Countryside Views Throughout the Urban Development of a City, Madrid as a Case Study

• Main Authors: Romero, Eva J. Rodríguez, Granados, Carlota Sáenz de Tejada
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Subjects: city-countryside dialogue; lookout; Madrid; proximity landscape; urban landscape
• ISSN: 1877-7058; 1877-7058
• DOI: 10.1016/j.proeng.2016.08.732

The ever-changing contour of a city responds to many factors; the need to expand circumvents the geophysical limitations in an ever-lasting dialogue between the city and its surrounding countryside. The idea of trespassing this rural-urban boundary has driven architecture and urbanism to shape the city layout in a certain way throughout history. Lookouts, based on its topographic advantage, conform visual relationships that, over time, have become consolidated views, ever-changing, however part of the collective memory. Urban development plans must be especially sensitive towards these elements, for its importance lies mainly in the intangibility. Moreover in the case of those views from the roads and accesses to and from the city; these “approaching landscapes” become and everyday scenery for those experiencing the rural-urban fringe. The purpose of this work is to study the evolution of these views in a growing city, paying special attention to the city-countryside dialogue. Madrid is chosen as the study case, as part of a funded project entitled “Proximity Landscapes of the city of Madrid. From the 19th Century to the present.” This research tackles Madrid's urban contour and surrounding nature: an area that has been left out both by regional and local environmental studies. Through the analysis of historical cartography and other documentary evidence, we detect the areas of urban-rural friction along Madrid's contour line in five relevant stages of the city's development. The main conclusion drawn from this study is that lookouts from the city towards the countryside show a higher permanence, while the relevant observation points looking into the city not only move further away from the urban contour line, but proliferate as potential places from where to apprehend the iconic image of the city.