Whenever it is justified, we will make here a press review - an overview of the best that has been published in the media in Portugal and abroad about mobility and sustainability in Lisbon. In this first edition, we talk about the future of Martim Moniz and also about Carlos Moedas and his position regarding bike paths.
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Martim Moniz is up for debate again. And yes, it is possible to make a garden there | Message
At the end of last year, Lisbon City Hall put the future of Martim Moniz in the hands of the citizens: what future do you want for that square?was the question posed through a public discussion process, open to anyone who wanted to share ideas. One of the most interesting proposals involves the creation of a garden. Journalist Frederico Raposo, from the Lisbon newspaper Mensagem, went to see if the garden at Martim Moniz is possible.
Carlos Moedas' first interviews | RTP3 and Expresso
Carlos Moedas will be, for the PSD and CDS, Fernando Medina's main opponent for the Lisbon City Council. In his first major interview, on RTP3, a week agoMoedas spoke at the concept of "15-minute city“This is an idea of the French-Colombian urban planner Carlos Moreno to shorten distances in cities by allowing people to have everything they need within 15 minutes on foot or by bike, without the need for a car.
The former European Commissioner admitted the need to reduce the entry of cars in Lisbon because "the future of cities will have fewer cars" and spoke of deterrent parks at the urban limits; he said that the transformation of the city cannot be imposed - "it's not taking away the parking lot here to put another bike lane", "we have to think about it with people".
This week, to Expresso, Carlos Moedas clarified his position regarding the cycling infrastructure, which has been one of Medina's bets for Lisbon's mobility: "Bikeways: too many. Advocate of bike lanes and '15-minute cities,' wants vertical parking lots to offset reduced space", reads a box accompanying the newspaper interview, in which some of the candidate's positions are summarized.
According to the same interview, Moedas opposes the future Metro's circular lineI would have preferred an expansion to the western part of the city; says that Lisbon has the "worst lines in Europe" and that "we should be able to take the subway everywhere". Keeps away "blind ideological positions" e "policy stability" about whether Carris should be privatized - as the Passos Coelho government (of which he was a member) intended - or municipalized - as it is today.
Lisbon: Medina versus Moedas | Sandra Marques Pereira, Público
Sociologist Sandra Marques Pereira analyzes the two strongest candidates for Lisbon City Council and Moedas' interview on RTP3. The researcher writes that "to elect as a priority in his program for Lisbon the preparation of the city for the next pandemic, as Moedas proposes, is a bit depressing and quite reductive" e questions the 15-minute city concept that the PSD/CDS opponent brought from Paris: "a debatable concept that has recently become the new mantra of urbanism for immediate consumption and that, understood as a unique urbanistic solution for the city, can promote parochialism and segregation of urban experiences".
As for Medina, Sandra Marques Pereira points out that "there is not a Lisbon of Medina, but a Lisbon of Salgado, for which the contribution of António Costa, as mayor, will have been more important than that of Medina himself".. And concludes "Medina's candidacy is, above all Salgado's inheritance applicationbut without his own, and with a set of problems to solve, now with less money"..
We, the city and mobility | Patrícia Melo, Público
Patrícia Melo, researcher in urban economics, writes in an opinion article in Público that "a reduction of only 10%" on legal surface parking in Lisbon "would allow the equivalent of ten Commerce Squares in Lisbon to be recovered".. "If our ambition allowed us to further reduce the road network area by 10%, we would have at least 21 more Commerce Squares in Lisbon"writes.
"The reclaimed space would make it possible to widen sidewalks, improve the speed and competitiveness of public transport and cycling, and reduce road accidents. In addition to improving our health and quality of life, these measures would bring economic benefits by increasing the attractiveness of local commerce."
Europe doubles down on cycling in post-Covid recovery plans | The Guardian
Laura Laker, journalist freelancerwrites in the British newspaper The Guardian about how several European cities are betting on cycling in their post-Covid recovery, and gives the example of Lisbon. The newspaper cites the report from Instituto Superior Técnico which reports a 25% increase in cyclists in the city and talks about the city council's plans to reach 200 km of cycling this year, extend pedestrian space, and expand 30 km/h zones, for example.
