Ciudades (Jun 2016)
Urbanismo e desenvolvimento municipal na Europa: os congressos municipalistas da Unión dos Municipios Españoles
Abstract
This paper analyses the municipal institutionalization process in Europe, mainly in Spain, through the congresses of municipalities that occurred in the continent. These congresses were of capital importance to the disclosure of information and proposals in the field of Urbanism and municipal development. At the same time, other subjects such as the inter-municipal cooperation, habitation, municipal economy and regional planning were among the main subjects in the debate. As far as Spain is concerned, the creation of Unión de Municípios Españoles was key for the consolidation of such debate about local development, mainly in the context of Congresos de Municipios Españoles organized since 1925 by the time of Primo de Rivera dictatorship. This Spanish institutional context (UME) enabled the articulation of the Spanish municipalists with professionals of different nationalities, responsible for the creation in 1913, of the International Union of Cities. Among the interests of these institutions, the subject of big cities was key, being present in most debates, building a common ground for the urban planning debate for the municipal development.
