One of the most visible faces of colonial power and one of the most permanent were the changes in the built environment: the construction of buildings, ports, roads, railways or other infrastructures or the changes in the landscape through forestation, changes in agriculture, etc. These are just some of the examples.

This panel aims to explore the role and assert the importance of the colonial periodical press – newspapers and periodicals (general or scientific), published in the colonial territories and in the metropoles – in the study of the built environment by exploring themes such as the reception, circulation of models, the discussion and understanding by the public, use by the political power, among others. Some of this themes can be discussed by the following questions, to which they are not limited to: How was the built environment used by the press, in the colonial territories and in the metropoles, as a mean of propaganda (by the governments or the oppositions)? Were transcolonial debates or circulations of knowledge (by the circulation of models, etc.) made only by scientific press or also by general press? Who were the predominant actors and what were the main discourses? How can reception, and the change of reception over the course of time, be studied trough colonial periodical press? How are these changes made in the colonial period, perceptible, debated, etc. in the post-colonial period through the press?