Tracing Colonial Blueprints

A common theme I've observed in many towns in Latin America is a central park or plaza which serves as a focal point for social life, surrounded by government structures, tourist destinations, museums, and other important local institutions. Radiating outward are other smaller businesses and houses. I used to perceive this design as a physical manifestation of family and community, generally viewing it through a positive lens. However, I recently learned that this urban blueprint was imposed by Spanish colonizers.

Last year in Sweden, I met a woman getting her PhD in a field called hauntology, which is essentially the study of dead futures (or the lingering presence of lost or unfulfilled futures on the present). Applying the ideas of hauntology onto colonization and urban design, it makes me wonder how Latin American cities might have developed if not for Spanish colonization. What are the lingering or "dead" futures embedded in these urban spaces, and is there a way to revive them? Is it possible to decolonize design? Would there still be a central plaza, or something entirely different? What kinds of architecture might emerge?

There's another field of study called Afrofuturism which explores how African societies may have developed differently if not for colonization. Is there a parallel framework in a Latin American context that addresses similar questions?