New productive uses areas. Central business districts (CBD), business parks, technology parks and corporate cities

Abstract

This chapter analyses the evolution of the urban areas specifically dedicated to tertiary uses, from the appearance of the Central Business Districts in the 1960s, related to the zoning principles of the Modern Movement, to the business parks, derived from the adaptation of garden cities to service activities. The emergence of the new information and communication technologies (ICTs) brought the specialization of these parks in places of science and technology. Finally, the concept of corporate cities also dating back to the 1950s has experienced a new boost in the last years. Recently, different companies are trying to concentrate all their workers in a specific place containing all the facilities, with the result being that the urban and architectural form usually expresses the essence and the spirit of the company in many ways. The progressive development of the new Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs), since the 1970s, also has affected the way tertiary and RD uses have been distributed in the city, increasing the different approaches of creating and developing new productive areas. The aim of this chapter is to analyse and describe the evolution of business districts and the different typologies of new productive areas from the most significant examples.