ensanche

Ensanche is a term used in urban planning to denote the planned expansion of a city beyond its historic core. Derived from the Spanish ensanchar, meaning “to widen,” it refers to both the process of growth and the resulting district or zone created to accommodate increasing populations, industry, and modern infrastructure during the 19th and early 20th centuries in many Spanish-speaking cities.

Typical features of an ensanche include a regular street grid, wider boulevards or avenues, standardized block sizes, and often chamfered corners at intersections to improve visibility and traffic flow. The development usually involved laying out new municipal services, parks, and transport connections while integrating with the older parts of the city.

One of the most influential examples is Barcelona’s Eixample (Catalan for “expansion”), designed by Ildefonso Cerdà and begun in 1859. Its systematic grid and long, straight streets, with distinctive chamfered corners, became a model for many later urban expansion schemes in Europe and the Americas. Other Spanish cities and numerous Latin American capitals undertook ensanches modeled on this approach, adapting the concept to local contexts and needs.

In historical and planning literature, the term ensanche distinguishes deliberate, government-led expansion from the organic growth of medieval cores. It highlights a shift toward regulated, expansive urban design prompted by industrialization and modernization.