LPP Journal #4 - Jul 2025

The pace of the city is fast. And so is the pace of our lives or how we change what we pay attention to. One day we're looking at Benformoso, the next we're talking about jacaranda trees. It seems that subjects are short and fleeting. In this frenetic day-to-day life, you have to find space in a printed newspaper three times a year.

Finishing this LPP Journal #4 has been difficult. We had planned to have this issue out in January, then February, March... It's now July. Over these months, we've had to change our plans: we've had to rethink and reschedule, find new stories and, above all, be agile. In the midst of this exercise, it became clear that, even if people's attention shifts from one topic to another, there are more persistent problems than the current news cycle, and there are debates that need time. And that the role of the newspaper is precisely to counteract the fleetingness imposed by social media news. To resist not only the lightness of current affairs, but also the volatility of times, which are increasingly driven by fast content. 

In this edition, which is presented in a more convenient format, we walked along Martim Moniz and BenformosoWhat life does that Lisbon square and street have? What stories are left untold? We skipped the shore and, in Costa da Caparica, We talked to the new owner of Transpraia and his plans for the little train, so called by the locals. Back to Lisbon, we take a break from Old Eurico, It has become a point of reference for locals and tourists alike. And with our bellies full, we return to the most pressing challenges.

Anticipating the local elections, we move away from passing discussions and focus on two of the major challenges facing the Lisbon metropolitan area: mobility and housing. With the help of two experts, we point out some clues and ways to enrich the public debate.

On the way to the last pages, we publish an interview with Nuno Prates, a gardener who was one of the voices for the jacaranda trees on 5 de Outubro. But we go beyond this species of tree: we present Nuno, who creates gardens and flowerbeds in Lisbon as acts of citizenship and the fight for a greener, more well-kept city. Finally, because it's the vacation season, we talk about “living schools”, i.e. how schools can be dynamic spaces open to the city.