San Cristóbal de la Laguna as a Trial Colonial City Prior to the Founding of Spanish American Settlements: The Influence of Convent Life on the City-Territory

San Cristóbal de la Laguna (1496) served as a pivotal trial colonial city, bridging the gap between peninsular Spanish urban planning and early American settlements. This study reveals its role as an intermediate model that enriched colonial urban planning principles before their application in the Americas. Unlike defensive designs of mainland cities, San Cristóbal's grid adapted to insular terrain, with religious architecture—particularly convents, churches, hermitages, and hospitals—acting as structural elements shaping the city's social order and territory. By comparing it with UNESCO World Heritage Sites like Santo Domingo (1502) and Panama Viejo (1519), researchers confirm its influence on the evolutionary process of early colonial urban planning, highlighting convent foundations as key territorial organizers.

Cubero-Hernández, A., Pérez-Cano, M. T., & Montero-Fernandez, F. J. (2026). San Cristóbal de la Laguna as a Trial Colonial City Prior to the Founding of Spanish American Settlements: The Influence of Convent Life on the City-Territory. Urban Science, 10(1), 32. https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci10010032