Real Sociedad Económica de Amigos del País de Segovia

El arbolado de la ciudad

Abstract

Sanz Sanjosé, María Gloria. Real Sociedad Económica de Amigos del País de Segovia. El arbolado de la ciudad. Valladolid: Ediciones de la Universidad de Valladolid, 2024. The book reconstructs, through an exhaustive review of the complete minutes of the Real Sociedad Económica de Amigos del País de Segovia and holdings from several archives, the history of the Enlightenment project to create tree nurseries and tree-lined promenades in Segovia during the eighteenth century, showing how those initiatives anticipated contemporary debates on nature, the city, and sustainability. The author demonstrates that the interest of Segovia's Enlightenment reformers in urban trees was not driven solely by utilitarian motives but also by an aesthetic dimension—the «beauty» that trees bring to the urban landscape—connecting with the major philosophical currents of the eighteenth century and with subsequent Anglo-American conservationism. The reviewer commends the work's documentary rigor and its ability to link a localised historical episode with present-day ecological challenges.