Actions to recover the absent city – Simultaneity and hyper socialization – Strategies of intervention in a neighbourhood on the periphery

Abstract

This chapter explores intervention projects aimed at recovering the quality of public space and the private living conditions of residents in a typical Spanish neighbourhood, La Rondilla, on the periphery of Valladolid, Spain. La Rondilla (Figure 1) was developed in the 1960s on the formerly agricultural periphery of Valladolid which, at the time, was composed of new working-class neighbourhoods built by privately funded speculative construction. It is a dormitory town, dense and compact, but it lacks infrastructure and public spaces. It is composed of a succession of parallel six-storey blocks, separated by narrow streets. Its density of dwellings makes it desirable from the perspective of the market, but its minimum public spaces make it a place that is not so desirable for living.