Bairros em Lisboa 2012

The role of urban neighbourhoods ('bairros') in the 21st century urban context

Filipa Ramalhete

Assunção Gato

Coordenation: CEACT/UAL - Centro de Estudos de Arquitectura, Cidade e Territórioda Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa

Partners: IHRU – SIPA | e-Geo | CML

Is the concept of neighbourhood (bairro) still essential in the 21st century urban context?

Which aspects are crucial for the residents to consider their urban area as a neighbourhood?

Is the point of view from the ‘old residents’ different from the ‘new gentrification’ ones?

Is the concept itself part of emerging residential patterns?

SIEF 2011

“It is this social diversity, and not just the diversity of buildings and uses, that gives the city its soul.”

“In the areas where hipsters and gentrifiers live there’s a new cosmopolitanism in the air: tolerant, hip, casual. And that isn’t bad. But little by little the old ethnic neighbourhoods they have moved into are dying, along with the factories where longtime residents plied their trades and the Irish bars, Latino bodegas, and black soul food restaurants where they made their homes away from home. The people who seemed so rooted in these neighbourhoods are disappearing.”

Sharon Zukin (2010), Naked City: the death and life of authentic urban places, Oxford University Press, New York

“Cuanto mayor sea la variedad de usos que tenga un barrio, más sustentable resultará”

Alvarez de Celis in clarin.com (5/4/2011)

SIEF 2011

The Project Lisbon Bairros in 2012 Starting point - Bairro is…• an architectural reality within a temporal series;• an urban reality where people live as neighbours, with no administrative or political

correspondence;• an area with blurred physical limits but with a strong common memory and identity;• a geographic basis where we observe various time, spatial and social layers;• a place which promotes identity marks, shared by the community, and socially

recognized;• a place where we observe the intersection the material and objective aspects of

social life and the subjective aspects of its cultural representations;• a place where we “grow up” and build memories, both at an individual and social

level;• a word (and a concept) that went from “invisible” to “omnipresent” in Lisbon

municipal planning;• something worth studying to understand present and future planning options.

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The Project Lisbon Bairros in 2012 Objectives

• Study the bairro as a physical / architectural reality, but also as an historic and social / anthropological context, lived and represented by its inhabitants.

• Understand the various contexts (spatial, historic, architectural, social) associated to the concept.

• Understand the subjacent criteria to define a part of the city as a bairro, in a plural contemporary context.

• Establish a typological characterisation of Lisbon’s neighbourhoods.

• 6 case studies to help understand the role of Lisbon bairros in the present urban context.

• Self-definition as a fundamental issue.

SIEF 2011

The Project2010• Multidisciplinary team concerned with spatial planning (architecture, anthropology,

geography, history, economy) | Partnerships (IHRU | e-Geo | CML)• Theoretical research | field work preparation• Typological analysis• Mapping2011• Round table O lugar do Bairro• Fieldwork in 6 neighbourhoods (questionnaires - 600 + 120 - and interviews).

– Questionnaire: • Concept, representation and opinion• Activities performed in and outside the neighbourhood• Characterisation of the individual inquired• Mental map

• Historic cartography2012• Final analysis and intervention proposals (SIA – International Architecture Seminar)

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Graça

Convento da Graça

Rossio, séc XVII

Vista panorâmica da cidade obtida do miradouro da Graça

Colina de São Gens

Vila Operária “Estrela de Ouro” 1908

Vista panorâmica sobre a colina do Castelo obtida a partir de S. Gens

Largo da Graça

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Reasons for Graça to be a neighbourhood (bairro)

Traditional commercePeople

"Everybody knows everybody""It has everything"

Relationship between inhabitantsHistory

Traditional neighbourhoodAncient

ArchitectureAged people

"It's not anymore"Services

Geographic position"It is inhabited"

SurroundingsPublic spaces

Long term inhabitantsPedestrian movement

"Country in the city"Traditions

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

2929

1714

766

44

33333

222222

8

8

3

4

54

23

Less than a year1 to 5 years6 to 10 years11 to 20 yearsMore than 20 yearsSince always

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Years of residence

12

3157

No relashionshipConversation without friendshipFriendship

Degree of relationship with the neighbours

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Activities performed inside the neighbourhood

Go for a coffee

Buying newspaper

Buying bread

Go for a walk

Shop for food

Shop for clothes

Go to the cinema / theatre

Going out at night

Religious service

Sports

Going to the hairdresser / barber

School

Playground

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

InsideOutsideBothNon applicableDK/DA

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Graça - Limits

Is the concept of neighbourhood (bairro) still essential in the 21st century urban context? Yes!

Which aspects are crucial for the residents to consider their urban area as a neighbourhood? Urban functions and inhabitants... People (and commerce) do make places.

Is the point of view from the ‘old residents’ different from the ‘new gentrification’ ones? Not in this case study?

Is the concept itself part of emerging residential patterns? Yes, new residents search for this specific neighbourhood.

Questions remain and appear...

SIEF 2011

Our team

UAL: Filipa Ramalhete | Assunção Gato | Cristina Dias | Joana Afonso | Sara Machado | Bruno NevesE-Geo: Nuno SoaresIHRU: Margarida Tavares da Conceição | Luís Marques | Rute FigueiredoCML: Pedro GriloFieldwork: João Ortigão Ramos | Maria Castilho | Miguel Esteves | Pedro PedroFábio Fonseca | Isa Esteves

Photo credits: Nuno Soares

SIEF 2011

The historical neighborhoods of central Lisbon are perfect for those who visit the Portuguese capital to experience for themselves. Their culture, the history, the architecture and the people are fundamental aspects of Lisbon’s identity, and those who explore them will discover their own personal map. There are so many possibilities, don't let them get away.

Turismo de Portugal, www.visitlisbon.com, Fev. 2011.

SIEF 2011