Case Studies  The Lisbon Castle parish and the urban regeneration process

4. The Urban Regeneration Process
4.1. General concepts and prerequisites for the Urban Regeneration in

Portugal and Lisbon

The reasons that led Lisbon Town Authorities to undertake the Urban Regeneration process were various.

Being under pressure by the population, and as a reaction and a response to the general reorientation within the problematic of the management of European and world cities, one of the main targets was to regenerate the deprived residential areas of the historical sectors of the city. There are included the issues of urban planning, the protection of the built environment and architectural heritage that were already affirmed in 1964 in the Venice Charter, and reaffirmed later in that of Petrópolis, in 1987, where: "this urban historical place must be understood in its operational direction of "critical area ", and not in opposition to the non-historical spaces of the city, as well as the city is a historical organism".

Since 1976, Portuguese legislation has permitted the definition of "Critical Areas of Recovery and Urban Conversion", characterised by the lack of urban infrastructures, social facilities, public space and green areas and on the other hand by the deficiencies of the existing building. This declaration safeguards and protects these areas, by setting up the therapeutic measures and attributes to the municipal and local administration the legal instruments to reduce the inherent problems of degradation efficiently.

The main purpose of the Urban Regeneration Policy of Lisbon City Hall was to keep the native population in their habitat, the historical sectors. This population is generally poor, aged and/or without alternative resources. Therefore this was in the 1980s an extremely progressive concept as a way to fight social exclusion. In addition, the intention was, to avoid the desertification of the historical urban areas and it's turning into a service industry zone, at the same time stimulating and preserving the characteristic interchange and proximity of social and cultural relations, including local anchored commercial activity, making up components of a sustainable development within neighbourhoods.

In that way characteristics of the build up area were generally kept, restoring and consolidating pre-existent building, without carrying out significant alterations within the housing typologies and however insisting on the use of “traditional” materials and construction manners. Changes within the floor plans were only made in those cases where it became evident that the dwellings didn't possess any basic living conditions (toilets or kitchens).

From 1985, (anchored in the 1985 legislation) the Local Technical Offices (Gabinetes Técnicos Locais) emerge in the four historical areas of Lisbon , along with the office dedicated to the peripheral cores (former rural settlements). The Local Technical Offices had the assignment to manage and lead a local regeneration practice by occasional intervention, having however, the possibility of governmental funding, within the framework of the Urban Regeneration Programmes (PRU), launched in 1983 and reformulated in 1988, where the State's financial supports for regeneration works, infrastructures and public facilities were defined.

Still in 1988, the especial governmental programme, ”RECRIA” (Regime Especial de Comparticipação na Recuperação de Imóveis Arrendados) was launched (and updated in 2000), financing up to 65% of the total cost of works carried out on privately owned residential rented buildings. Furthermore since 1996 the “REHABITA” programme, guaranteed the financial support to the town authorities while intervening on buildings located in historical zones.

Within the scope of the above-mentioned programmes and prerequisites, urbanisation plans and detail plans to establish the parameters and base rules for an intervention in the urban areas, including the building, were drawn up by the Local Technical Offices, becoming multi-disciplinary teams. These plans respected the regulations and were components of the general city development plans (Planos Directores Municipais).

3. Socio-economic development of the Castle parish    5. The Integrated Projects