Rocha decided to erect a new city to host the provincial government institutions and the planned university. Urban planner Pedro Benoit designed a city layout based on a rationalist conception of urban centers. The city (see figure) has the shape of a square with a central park and two diagonal avenues, north-south and east-west. This design is copied in a self-similar manner in small blocks of six by six blocks in length. Other than the diagonals, all streets are on a rectangular grid, and are numbered consecutively. Thus, La Plata is nicknamed "la ciudad de las diagonales" ("city of diagonals"). It is also called "la ciudad de los tilos" ("city of tilia") because of the large number of linden trees lining the streets.

The city design and its buildings are said to possess a strong Freemason symbolism. This is said to be a consequence of both Rocha and Benoit being Freemasons.

The designs for the government buildings were chosen in an international architectural competition. Thus, the Governor Palace was designed by Italians, City Hall by Germans, etc. Electric street lighting was installed in 1884, and was the first of its kind in Latin America.

The cathedral of La Plata, in Gothic style, is the largest church in Argentina.

The Curutchet House is the only building by Le Corbusier in South America.

The La Plata University was founded in 1897 and nationalized in 1905. It is well-known for its observatory and paleontology museum. Ernesto Sabato graduated in physics; he went on to teach at the Sorbonne and the MIT before becoming a famed novelist. Doctor René Favaloro was another famous alumnus. During its early years, it attracted a number of renowned intellectuals from the Spanish-speaking world, such as Dominican Pedro Henriquez Ureña.

The city was renamed in 1952 as Eva Perón; the original name was restored in 1955.

The city is home to two football (soccer) teams that play in the first division: Estudiantes de La Plata and Gimnasia y Esgrima de La Plata.