A look at most of the cities within Latin America reveals striking commonalities across countries, from Mexico down to Argentina: most cities have a well-defined area known as "El Centro" (The Center), anchored by a main plaza (Plaza Mayor), flanked by a church on one side and key buildings like the city hall on another. This is no coincidence, as it can be traced back to an urban planning system established during the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 17th and 18th centuries. It gave standardized guidelines for city design across its viceroyalties. Unlike French and English colonies, Spanish settlements adhered to regulations that contributed to the emergence of a shared urban identity, with cities displaying similar spatial logic and architectural cohesion despite differing scales and contexts.
To advance the colonization process of the Americas, the Spanish Empire constantly needed to establish new urban centers. For this purpose, a series of laws were issued by the Spanish Crown to regulate social, political religious, and economic life in the colonized areas. In 1573 King Felipe II enacted the "The Laws of the Indies," a legislative text consisting of 148 ordinances that guide and regularize the establishment of presidios (military towns), missions, and pueblos (civilian towns). In 1680, King Carlos II compiled those ordinances and other laws under a series of documents known as "Recopilación de las Leyes de los Reinos de Indias". It is under this compilation, mainly titles six, seven, and eight, where the standard blueprint for spanish city planning in the Americas can be read in its integrity. To this day, they are considered by some historians as one of the first standardized urban legislations in the world. They specified city layouts, from the dimensions of a central plaza to the orientation of streets and the ideal elevation for a town. With their implementation, the Spanish Crown was trying to adapt to varied contexts and the specific conditions of each location to ensure the settlement's success.
