Between the traffic confusion, the noise of the engines and the pollution of the cars looking for their way in and out of the city, crossing Avenida Unidos da América and the neighborhood of Alvalade, there is a green corridor to take advantage of along that great avenue and between the huge 1950s-60s housing blocks that flank it.
Inspired by the ideas of the landscape architect Gonçalo Ribeiro TellesThe Green Corridor of Avenida Estados Unidos da América develops, with few interruptions, in the intervals between the avenue's housing blocks, more specifically in its public areas, which, unlike others, are open to the city and therefore for public use.
The renewed United States of America Avenue Green Corridor began to be prepared in 2017, first on a section of the avenue closest to Gago Coutinho. This year it was finalized and can already be seen on foot, between the Entrecampos traffic circle and the aforementioned Almirante Gago Coutinho Avenuepassing the Avenida de Roma intersection.
To manage expectations, it should be said that it's not a continuous corridor and there are a few interruptions here and there, but it's worth the walk from one end to the other. The construction of this green corridor was the responsibility of the Alvalade Parish Council (JFA), under the delegation of powers contract with the municipality of Lisbon. In a presentation of the project, the JFA pointed to degraded sidewalks, physical and visual discontinuity, distorted vegetation, conditional pedestrian circulation and road safety problems as the main problems detected along Avenida Estados Unidos da América and which this intervention was intended to solve.
The creation of the green corridor involved the planting of new trees and shrubs, the design of new pedestrian routes that cross the green areas, the establishment of new living, leisure and recreational areas along the avenue, the creation of two children's playgrounds and a large dog park - perhaps the largest dog park in the city. The future of United States of America Avenue Green Corridor will now depend on their maintenance. Lisboa Para Pessoas found the different green spaces that make up this Corridor to be in good condition overall, despite some accumulation of garbage in the bins or some flowerbeds - particularly in the parts created in 2017 - in need of brief maintenance.
What are green corridors?
A green corridor is a linear unit superimposed on elements of the ecological structure that allows a continuum naturale,promoting the articulation of historical, cultural, and landscape heritage and contributing to improve the environmental quality of this territory. In addition to their ecological function, green corridors have an extremely important social and cultural function in an urban or peri-urban context.
If, on the one hand, they help safeguard biodiversity and natural elements, on the other they help solve problems such as soil sealing and air pollution. In social terms, green corridors are excellent spaces for promoting recreational and leisure activities in the open air, while at the same time encouraging soft modes of travel. They also contribute to the promotion of informal education, the conservation of cultural heritage and the improvement of the landscape.
From Monsanto to Oriente, nine green corridors have been created that connect important areas of the citycontributing not only to the implementation of Lisbon's Local Biodiversity Action Plan, but also to climate mitigation and adaptation. The Avenida Unidos da América Green Corridor is not mapped in any of the city's nine corridorsBut it is close to the so-called Central Green Corridor.
