From mule to motor car: A history of urban transportation in Caracas, Venezuela, 1881-1947

This dissertation analyzes the effects the adoption of urban transportation had on Caracas, Venezuela from 1881 until 1947. This study examines the way in which urban transportation is linked to the social, spatial, political, economic, and cultural life of the city. In a series of chronological chapters revolving around increasingly advanced transportation technologies--horse-and mule-drawn streetcars, electric streetcars, and automobiles and buses--I show how urban transit was related to these various aspects of the city and the role it played in bringing about changes in these facets of Caracas' past.; This study has three main components in each chapter. First, I look at transportation's relationship to the spatial and social arrangement of the city. The introduction of various modes of city transit can influence spatial characteristics such as residential patterns. I examine the patterns found in the expansion of Caracas in relationship to its urban transit network. Besides looking at the physical growth of the city, I look at how existing areas of Caracas were influenced by urban transportation.; Second, I examine local politics. Closely related to the layout of the transportation systems is the role of local government. All too often, studies of urban history ignore the role of local government, falling into the trap of technological determinism. These studies, however, take the human actors out of history. In the case of urban transportation, the important actors are often the local politicians that implement policies and services.; Third, I look at the influence of transportation on the use of space in cities. I have prepared detailed maps of street paving throughout the city. Combined with other sources that indicate what sort of activities were taking place on city streets as well as with municipal legislation, I have traced the changing uses of street space. Leisure time can also be influenced by access to urban transportation as new recreational sites grew up around the streetcar lines. In court cases dealing with accidents of streetcars heading to these recreational areas, I have found rich testimony of people explaining when and where they were traveling on Caracas' urban transportation system.