The qualification of public space in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (1998-2023): pieces of an atlas, hypotheses for a metropolitan project

Abstract

The graphic exploration presented is the result of a ‘research-by-mapping’ process, following a methodology that aims to respond to the objective of identifying, decoding, evaluating and discussing the implementation of a universe of more than a thousand public space requalification interventions in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area over the last 25 years, mapped within the scope of the FCT MetroPublicNet project. This exercise resulted in the building of various multi-scale (cartographic) interpretations, which can be considered as a tool for recognizing and testing scales and typologies of territory and representing the vast universe of interventions in public space. Pieces of an Atlas under construction, these figures are understood as a hypothesis drawn from the central argument of the research, that a metropolitan perspective can provide more integrated, robust and cohesive responses to the challenges of environmental resilience, low-carbon mobility and territorial cohesion in contemporary metropolises.