Palmela and Oeiras join the "Network of Cities and Towns that Walk"

Palmela became part of the Network of Cities and Towns that Walkwith more than 40 national municipalities, with the common aim of promoting mobility and the use of public space by all. Oeiras is also about to join this network, which in addition to sharing best practices and gaining new knowledge, allows access to training and participation in conferences dedicated to the topic.

A Network of Cities and Towns that Walk is a project operationalized by Institute for Cities and Towns with Mobility (ICVM)by architect Paula Teles. This network was born at the end of 2022 from a challenge issued to the ICVM by Spain's Walking Cities Network for the creation of a similar structure in Portugal. The Portuguese and Spanish networks now work together, promoting joint activities.

In Portugal, this Network of Cities and Towns that Walk aims to strengthening walkability conditions in the participating municipalities, improving the quality of urban life and public health parameters, universalizing the use of public space for all, reducing the emission of polluting gases, increasing intermodality, increasing the safety of pedestrian and road trafficamong others. The municipalities that are part of this network undertake to promote actions aimed at improving walkability in their territories and benefit from certified technical training, as well as participation in the congresses organized by the Portuguese and Spanish networks, the possibility of competing for the National Walking Cities Award or access to information on national and European support programmes for promoting walkability.

To be part of the Network of Cities and Towns that WalkIn the case of municipalities belonging to the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (AML), such as Palmela and Oeiras, the annual fee is €4,500 plus VAT. Applications for membership can be made here.

Setúbal and Loures are already in this Network

Palmela signed the accession protocol on January 4th. The Mayor, Álvaro Balseiro Amaro, recalled at the time some of the interventions already carried out by the municipality: the improvement of accessibility in Praça da Independência, the redevelopment of Largo da Mitra and the South Zone Intermodal Park in Pinhal Novo, the creation of cycle paths throughout the municipality and, more recently, the creation of accessible routes in Palmela Castle. For Álvaro Balseiro Amaro, inclusion in this network "it's a commitment to do more and with greater technical planning and execution". The mayor said that a major urban rehabilitation project in Poceirão and Águas de Moura is under tender, with funding from the PRR - Recovery and Resilience Plan, and that renovations are planned for more streets in the historic center of Palmela and a major project in the José Maria dos Santos neighborhood in Pinhal Novo.

For its part, the municipality of Oeiras plans to formalize its membership of the Network of Cities and Towns that Walk soon, since the proposal for a resolution that supports this step still needs to be voted on in the Municipal Assembly (it was only considered in a Town Hall meeting this week, but approval by the deputies is guaranteed).

At the beginning of the year, the municipality led by Isaltino Morais approved the opening of a public tender to carry out several small interventions on road and pedestrian sidewalksThe aim of the contract is to improve the municipality's public spaces and contribute to a more comfortable and safer environment for users. The contract to be concluded implies the payment of a price for the execution of all the services that constitute the object of this contract, with the base price set at around 600 thousand euros.

In the AML, in addition to Palmela and Oeiras (which will be joining soon), the Network of Cities and Towns that Walk has the participation of the municipalities of Setúbal, which joined in January 2023, and Loures, which signed the protocol in April of the same year.