Urban planning in Madrid (iirc) under Franco was directed in a way that prevented large groups of people from gathering in public spaces. Buildings were constructed close, making the streets narrow. Wide open plazas were a rarity.
The Haussmann reconstruction of Paris (under Napoleon III) cleared wide boulevards through the city. This ended the string of revolutions that kept taking down French governments using barricades across narrow medieval streets. It's why the Paris Commune was dead once the army entered the city.
Idr where I heard this but the capitol is in a big empty space so that parisian style barricade fighting couldn't ever happen in DC
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Urban planning in Madrid (iirc) under Franco was directed in a way that prevented large groups of people from gathering in public spaces. Buildings were constructed close, making the streets narrow. Wide open plazas were a rarity.
The Haussmann reconstruction of Paris (under Napoleon III) cleared wide boulevards through the city. This ended the string of revolutions that kept taking down French governments using barricades across narrow medieval streets. It's why the Paris Commune was dead once the army entered the city.