While in Restelo an affordable rental urbanistic complex is proposed on an unused piece of land in the city, in Ajuda the idea is to create a large green area next to the Ajuda National Palace with the installation of new housing, social and cultural buildings. Both projects have already been presented to the public and are now also up for public discussion, thus allowing citizens to get involved in the city's future.
Housing isn't a focus of Lisboa Para Pessoas, but these projects in Restelo and Ajuda intersect with the areas of mobility and sustainability, arousing our interest.
In Restelo
In Restelo, two subdivisions are being discussed in the so-called Alto do Restelo - one a northof 16,600 square meters, and another at southof 64,400 square meters. The project involves a different way of developing a city: the new buildings, which are planned to be built on the two allotments and which will be mainly residential, will be surrounded by green areas and footpaths. The roads will run alongside the allotments.
Particularly in the southern subdivision, the public space within the subdivisions will be entirely pedestrianized and made up of leisure areas, small squares and squares interconnected with each other. The private patios, located on the lower floors of the buildings, will merge with the outdoor gardens and public space. The project includes, for example, a square with a small lake, a water mirror around which there will be a kiosk and local shops; in another square, also with shops and services, it is planned to create some water games. There will also be an informal garden called the Madeira Island Garden.
In total, around 45% of the urbanized area will be green and publicly accessible. The general idea seems to be to create a small green island in Restelo surrounded by housing, but also shops and services. Traffic routes run outside the allotments, where there will also be some surface parking (around 200 spaces). The 629 dwellings, most of which are one, two and three bedroom units, will have basement parking for a total of 780 spaces. But so that the car won't even be necessary, the whole area will be served by the city's network of cycle paths and the future surface metro, the LIOS. And the existing road network around the allotments will be redesigned to improve pedestrian safety.
The plot to the south is the most vibrant and complete in this public discussion process, with the plot to the north currently only envisaging the construction of two of the four buildings planned for that area and presenting a configuration closer to the usual - that is, with the road and parking coming close to the houses.
This project for Restelo will be the largest urban development operation in five decades in that area and gathered several criticisms from residents and neighbors of the parish of Belém. A broader discussion is now promised for an area whose urbanization was never completed. You can find out more about the public discussion process here e here. Below we share some of the most important documentation.
Help
A "Execution Unit" is, in essence, a way of intervening urbanistically in a given area in order to coordinate all interests, from the will of the property owners to the public interest of the city's users. In Ajuda, the so-called "Ajuda Execution Unit" is underway - a project to rehabilitate a plot of land next to the Ajuda National Palace, currently under construction, with new housing plots, shops and services, but also with the creation of a large green space.
The project for the Ajuda Implementation Unit - which can be consulted here e discussed here - involves the area between Alameda dos Pinheiros to the north, next to the Palace, Rua da Bica do Marquês to the south, Rua D. Vasco to the east, and Calçada da Ajuda and some courtyards to the west. New local connections are planned, such as a pedestrian path between the Pátio do Bonfim (which will be redeveloped) and Calçada da Ajuda, and the creation of a green space on the slope below the Ajuda National Palace, which will create a relationship with this monument and at the same time preserve the site's view of the waterfront.
This Execution Unit also plans to restore the Palácio das Damas, stimulate urban life and encourage residents to settle, upgrade the surrounding streets (such as Rua da Bica do Marquês) and build "new buildings associated with housing, cultural and social uses" with clear limits on the height of buildings, "so as not to obstruct views of the river from the dominant points".
Below we share some of the documentation from the Aid Implementation Unit:
