Seville and the double guadalquivir: a brief analysis of the recent city-river integration phenomenon

Abstract

After several great river works were executed during the 20th century, the Guadalquivir river, the most important of Andalusia (Spain), is receiving a series of physical interventions that will deeply change its shape, from its mouth to Seville. Inside the limits of this city, the rectification, which began with the Tablada corta (1920s) and was followed by the Triana corta (1950s) and the Cartuja corta (1970s), aimed to improve harbor activities and end the constant floods. The rectification formed a curious duplication of the river, dividing it into a" historical" section (converted into a dock) and an" alive" section (by which the river flows toward the sea). At the same time, the city sprawled to the south (on the 1929 Iberoamerican Exhibition area), east, and north, and consolidated itself as the main town of the new metropolitan region. The Cartuja region, on the west side, was finally occupied in 1992 by the International Exhibition (Expo'92), whose investments included a revamping of the rail and road systems, giving back to the city a waterfront that was isolated before that time (Torneo Avenue). As the port moved to Tablada to the south, the old Arenal Quay received the first project that reconnected the river to the city. New promenades and bridges linking the old city to Cartuja supplemented this new landscape, supported by recent urban legislation plans. Providing a historical description of this process and a brief visual analysis of the double Guadalquivir, this article identifies important aspects found in the current urban section of the river, with special consideration of the changes performed (and still ongoing) in its historical course.