IN-PERSON Barcelona. Section A

Abstract

At the turn of the twentieth century, major cities in the western world sought to reinvent themselves through urban parks and grand public architecture, known as the “City Beautiful” movement. Denver, a rough-hewn western U.S. city, pursued this gentrification guided by its domineering mayor, Robert Speer. To invigorate and inspire Denverites, Speer tore down buildings to make civic spaces and grand avenues, seeking to create what he called the “Paris on the Platte,” in reference to Denver’s South Platte River. Through parks, governmental buildings, and the aptly-named Speer Boulevard, Denver took on an air of grandiosity in the early 1900s. This development often took place at the expense of less prosperous or influential residents, expelled from their homes and businesses to make way for Speer’s vision. This paper seeks to demonstrate how the “City Beautiful” intentions of a century ago resonate in Denver in the early twenty-first century. It will show the motivations of Speer and others to reinvent the city’s image, and the use and abuse of those injected spaces and structures in the century since they were created. It will display the unintended consequences of urban planning as generations pass and find new uses for these elements. This paper will also illustrate through Denver’s example the challenges inherent for any mid-sized city to create and maintain an image of grandeur as economic, political, and social realities evolve.