The Ever Changing Valencia

The city of Valencia is a truly remarkable city by the sea. After spending three days there I experienced the city life, spending time at the beach, as well as seeing vast crop lands. The physical geography of Valencia is completely different than any other city I have visited in Europe. The city of Valencia has been changing significantly since the 19th century. It is apparent where the old medieval city was located within the city walls due to the unorthodox system of streets. Once one exits this confusing street system it is much easier to navigate because the streets appear to become more orderly. This is a similar case with almost all major cities throughout Europe which were founded during the early Roman Empire. Most medieval cities were clusters of streets with little to no order located around a central town square. Although the city has been expanding throughout the past hundred years there has been very significant changes which have occurred in only the past 20 years.
The most significant changes which have occurred in Valencia have been the urbanization of crop lands and the futuristic buildings by the architect Santiago Calatrava. These new and unique buildings were built in order to put Valencia on the map with the other larger cities of Spain. They built these structures for different reasons, such as to show they had the power and money to do so as well as to attract people from all over. Santiago Calatrava was an exceptional architect with a strong background in engineering which allowed him to build these magnificent structures. Here is a site which may be useful when traveling to Valencia and attempting to visit these structures http://www.valencia-tourist-travel-guide.com/. The people of Valencia now feel that these unique structures are the new symbol of the city rather than the crop lands which dominated the terrain for so long.
Due to the rapid expansion of the city, Valencia does not completely urbanize all of the croplands surrounding it. This is another reason why this city is so unique. One can be walking through the city near a large mall and before you know it you are standing in front of a large field. It is almost like a line which separates the city with the crop lands. These lands have become increasingly more valuable because they have been becoming smaller and smaller. It is amazing that even after hundreds of years the fields are still fertile. This is largely due to the magnificent irrigation system which was initially designed by the Romans but has been improved to perfection. Valencia is an extremely unique and diverse city which continues to grow and may become one of the major cities of Europe.

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