In the 19th century, the modernisation of cities in advanced industrial countries such as London and Paris was a response to the problems of urban society that emerged during the process of industrialisation and urbanisation. On the other hand, the urban modernisation of Latin American countries at the end of the 19th century, which was oriented towards the Parisification or Haussmannisation of the capital, was a response to urban social problems as well as a reflection of the desire of the elites to break with the colonial city and pursue progress and modernisation. This study deals with the case of Lima, the capital of Peru, among the cases of urban modernisation that took place in Latin America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In particular, this study analyses the background, process, and nature of the urban modernisation of Lima with a focus on the second period of the Legía administration, when the modernisation of the city of Lima was in full swing. The modernisation of Lima under the Legía regime, revealed two characteristics The first is the process of capitalising urban space, as was the case with Haussmann’s Renovation of Paris, in order to invest in the built environment and the resulting urban modernisation in order to solve urban problems such as public health crises and housing problems. However, if the Haussmann’s Renovation of Paris was the result of the strong political will of Napoleon III and the technocratic expertise of the Haussmann, as well as the momentum of private capital, then the process of urban modernisation in Lima in the 1920s was led by the rhetorical will of the Legía government and the investment of the US capital and land-owning elite. Second, the Legía regime sought to create public spaces such as squares and parks, and place various monuments there to serve as symbolic spaces for the formation of national identity. However, the Legía regime’s use of indigenous elements as symbols to shape its national identity is very weak, compared to Mexico. In the case of the Legía regime, the understanding of the indigenismo was limited to the placement of some symbolic elements of indigenous cultures in urban spaces.