Urbanizing Forces at the Classic Maya City of Palenque. Urban Form, Nighborhoods, and Infrastructure

This chapter explores the extent of planning and its social dimension at the ancient Maya city of Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico. Between the VII-IX centuries, the plateau where Palenque is located was extensively modified. The resulting highly nucleated city was harmoniously integrated with its surrounding. Through the analysis of spatial organization, accessibility, infrastructure, and water management features, I assess the environment modifications that guaranteed control and access to resources at city and neighborhood levels. Likewise, I delve into the effect of urban driving forces -like land-type, distance from the city core, distance from water resources or infrastructure- into the urbanization processes. The impact of planning choices within the city and the differences between neighborhoods is assessed thanks to GIS studies. This approach can help elucidating the way city guides and sustain the flow of practices and experiences, how its material structure channels movements while fostering and conditioning human interactions. Similarly, this methodology can help thinking on the way social divisions, expressed in the materiality of urban form, would have conditioned or differentiated the experience of the city.