When Havana Was Dressing up

Abstract

Havana’s nineteenth century urban development was conditioned by the interests of the city’s wealthy creoles as well as those of the Spanish colonial government. Keen to preserve hegemony over its last possession in the Americas, the latter promoted the city’s modernisation. This article reflects on the principal characteristics of nineteenth-century Havana’s expansion, with aspecial emphasis on preoccupations with hygiene that gave rise to planning regulations and urban interventions of a long-lasting impact for the city.