AÑO DE 1563. WYNGAERDEN
Vista de la Ciudad de Toledo, entrando por la Puerta de Bisagra. Imagen completa
End of the 20th and Start of the 21st Centuries
In 2004, work was started on a new Municipal Urban Development Plan (POM) for Toledo. A preliminary version was available for public approval in July that year. The plan for city growth had three main goals: a sustainable city; a unified and cohesive city with improved infrastructure systems integrating the different parts of Toledo; and compatibility between modernity and monumentality. Although it meant to leave the city’s historic areas unaffected to some degree, it would have had a significant impact on them.
Urban regulation and cultural heritage protection must be considered together as planning decisions particularly affect cities with recognized historical elements. Poor decisions could damage an intrinsic feature of Toledo city – its union with the land and unique ‘look’ as an urban environment.
Many influential bodies – the Royal Geographical Society, the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, the Royal Academy of History, the Royal Academy of Fine Arts and Historical Sciences of Toledo, ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites), and the Royal Foundation of Toledo – had criticisms of the Urban Plan in these respects. Other institutions and individuals believed too that the archaeological features and landscape of the Vega territories were assets to be protected and conserved.
Excavations over a limited area before building was to begin turned up interesting finds, which raised questions about the intended development. Archaeological value which could be lost, and concerns about Toledo’s landscape and heritage all came together to present serious doubts about the new Plan, particularly with regard to its potential effects on the Vega Baja.
Toledo’s heritage was discussed in open debate in numerous arenas. Legal and academic opinions came from different fields, obliging the regional administration, which had responsibility for cultural heritage, to make decisions about the situation. José María Barreda, President of JCCM (the Regional Government of Castile-La Mancha), declared that the Vega Baja should be protected as a heritage area of archaeological and landscape value. He called off the plans for new housing there and proposed instead a project which would develop the area as a cultural space for the city. These decisions, made in March 2007, set a new course in the development of this important piece of land in the city of Toledo.
