Urban design for Mussolini, Stalin, Salazar, Hitler and Franco (1922-1945)

The urban design practices of Europe's major dictatorships, from the end of the First World War to the end of the Second World War, are not only interesting from a historical perspective. They continue to have long-term effects and to be the subject of a disputed culture of reception. My hypothesis is that we must broaden our research concept in order to develop a satisfactory approach to the field of 'dictatorships and urban design'. We must overcome the singular national perspective: urban design has always emerged within the context of an international exchange of concepts and ideas, even in times of dictatorship. We must clear our perception of urban design: it is more than just form. The 'dictatorial' in urban design demonstrates itself less through products and more through production conditions and processes, such as the establishment of special agencies, provision and supply of special financial means, manner of project implementation and the use of forced labour. For this reason, I propose a distinction between the products and production conditions of urban design under European dictatorships.