Book contents
- The Cambridge Urban History of Europe
- The Cambridge Urban History of Europe
- Modern and Contemporary Europe
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Tables
- Contributors to Volume III
- Acknowledgements
- Editors’ Introduction to the Series
- Additional material
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Urban History: The Growth and Internationalisation of an Interdisciplinary Field
- Part I Regions and Global Connections
- Part II Themes
- Index
- References
14 - The Fascist City: Words and Stones
from Conceptualising Cities
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 January 2026
Book contents
- The Cambridge Urban History of Europe
- The Cambridge Urban History of Europe
- Modern and Contemporary Europe
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Tables
- Contributors to Volume III
- Acknowledgements
- Editors’ Introduction to the Series
- Additional material
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Urban History: The Growth and Internationalisation of an Interdisciplinary Field
- Part I Regions and Global Connections
- Part II Themes
- Index
- References
Summary
This chapter explores fascist urban imaginary – the ways in which European fascists responded to, and sought to reorder, the modern city – and how these visions informed projects in Italy, Germany and Spain. Drawing on Social Darwinist and social hygienic discourses, fascists regarded cities antagonistically, as epicentres of cosmopolitanism, degenerate modernism, racial corruption and sterility. The city, like the nation as whole, was a space to be conquered, purged and regenerated. Yet at the same time, they also embraced the urban environment as a showcase for national greatness, a site of political ritual and a vehicle for the totalitarian transformation of society.
This tension shaped the policies of fascist regimes, especially as directed towards the capitals of Rome, Berlin and Madrid. Through demolition, excavation and construction, they used urban space to invoke past golden ages, attempted to leave an enduring imprint on the built environment, and formulated utopian plans for cities of the future. The chapter also considers the afterlives of fascist urban interventions and their significance for contemporary memory politics.
Information
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge Urban History of Europe , pp. 281 - 301Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025
References
Further Reading
Baxa, P., Roads and Ruins: The Symbolic Landscape of Fascist Rome (Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 2009).Google Scholar
Bodenschatz, H., P. Sassi and M. Guerra (eds), Urbanism and Dictatorship: A European Perspective (Basel, Birkhauser, 2015).Google Scholar
Box, Z., España, año cero: La construcción simbólica del franquismo (Madrid, Alianza, 2010).Google Scholar
Cavin, J. S. and B. Marchand (eds), Antiurbain: Origines et conséquences de l’urbaphobie (Lausanne, PPUR, 2010).10.55430/05JSCBM34CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fuller, M., Moderns Abroad: Architecture, Cities and Italian Imperialism (New York, Routledge, 2007).10.4324/9780203968864CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ghirardo, D., Building New Communities: New Deal America and Fascist Italy (Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1989).Google Scholar
Hökerberg, H. (ed.), Architecture as Propaganda in Twentieth-Century Totalitarian Regimes: History and Heritage (Florence, Edizioni Polistampa, 2018).Google Scholar
Kallis, A., The Third Rome, 1922–1943: The Making of the Fascist Capital (New York, Palgrave Macmillan, 2014).Google Scholar
Lees, A., Cities Perceived: Urban Society in European and American Thought, 1820–1940 (New York, Columbia University Press, 1985).Google Scholar
Macdonald, S., Difficult Heritage: Negotiating the Nazi Past in Nuremberg and Beyond (New York, Routledge, 2009).Google Scholar
Maulsby, L. M., Fascism, Architecture, and the Claiming of Modern Milan, 1922–1943 (Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 2018).Google Scholar
Rosenfeld, G., Munich and Memory: Architecture, Monuments, and the Legacy of the Third Reich (Berkeley, University of California Press, 2000).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosenfeld, G. and P. Jaskot (eds), Beyond Berlin: Twelve German Cities Confront the Nazi Past (Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press, 2008).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stapell, H., Remaking Madrid: Culture, Politics, and Identity after Franco (New York, Palgrave Macmillan, 2010).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Till, K., The New Berlin: Memory, Politics, Place (Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press, 2005).Google Scholar
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