CIDADES, Comunidades e Territórios

Entrevista a Paulo Pinho conduzida a 30 de outubro de 2020

Por um planeamento urbano mais sustentável (parte II)

Entrevista a João Branco Pedro conduzida a 15 de outubro de 2020

A atualidade da investigação científica em arquitetura e urbanismo desenvolvida no LNEC (1961-1979) face ao desafio da sustentabilidade

Resumo O Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil (LNEC) constitui um dos raros organismos públicos que desenvolve investigação científica em arquitetura e urbanismo desde a implementação da sua primeira lei orgânica, em 1961, até aos nossos dias. Iniciada pelo arquiteto Nuno Portas na Divisão de Construção e Habitação (1961-1969) do Serviço de Edifícios e Pontes, esta linha de pesquisa viria a ser continuada na Divisão de Arquitetura (1969-1979) do renomeado Serviço de Edifícios. O presente artigo revisita alguns dos principais trabalhos de investigação desenvolvidos, entre 1961 e 1979, nestas duas divisões técnicas. Contextualizam-se as principais preocupações e práticas quotidianas que delinearam as temáticas e metodologias de investigação conduzidas naquele tempo específico. Confronta-se ainda essas mesmas problemáticas face aos desafios societais contemporâneos impostos pela questão da sustentabilidade, nomeadamente na indicação de orientações de planeamento para uma transição sustentável do sistema alimentar contemporâneo, objeto de análise no projeto de investigação SPLACH - Spatial Planning for Change. Como contributo maior, conclui-se a importância da investigação de cariz multidisciplinar e a necessidade da sua estreita conexão com as realidades práticas e quotidianas de quem vive nas cidades.

Abstract Since the implementation of its first organic law, the Portuguese National Laboratory for Civil Engineering (LNEC) constitutes one of the rare public organisms that develops scientific research in architecture and urbanism. Initiated by the architect Nuno Portas at the Construction and Housing Division (1961-1969), which belonged to the Buildings and Bridges Service, this line of research was later continued at the Architecture Division (1969-1979) from the renamed Buildings Service. The main research works and daily practices that outlined the research themes and methodologies conducted at that specific time are contextualized. These same problems are also confronted in the face of contemporary societal challenges imposed by the issue of sustainability, namely in the indication of planning guidelines for a sustainable transition of the contemporary food system, under analysis in the research project SPLACH - Spatial Planning for Change project. As a major contribution, we conclude the importance of multidisciplinary research and the need for its close connection with the practical and daily realities of those who live in cities.

Drivers of change: how the food system of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area is being shaped by activities, initiatives and citizens needs towards a sustainable transition

Abstract Food has always been an urban issue. The role of cities in building more sustainable food systems is already recognized and related to other urban domains, such as transport, health, land use planning for agriculture and multifunctional areas, community development, employment generation and waste management. The implications of these on urban planning and practice are however less evident. A proper spatialization of the food system and of its metabolic flows is missing, inhibiting their necessary readings for urban design. This paper addresses this gap. After introducing the concept of food system and discussing its spatial components - production, transformation, distribution, commercialization/consumption and waste management - we expose how a set of food-related activities and initiatives are shaping the Lisbon Metropolitan Area. The socio-ecological metabolic flows established by these operations on the ground and their sustainability impacts are established, based on the analysis of five municipalities: Lisbon, Oeiras, Alcochete, Palmela and Montijo. The results reveal how food is already an opportunity for the creation of jobs, healthy food markets and the promotion of land productivity, in particular on a micro scale. The paper recognizes the importance of localized food systems and their particular metabolic flows, capable of boosting opportunities to overcome physical and social obstacles and to increase the possibilities for urban planning to target the urban food system on a wider scale. Finally, it concludes that the overall food system of a metropolitan area is more than the sum of the several food systems operating in that same region.

Resiliência urbana pró-Sustentabilidade e planeamento sob incerteza

Resumo O estudo da resiliência urbana assume-se como uma área de interesse dos investigadores, técnicos de planeamento e decisores políticos. Disponibiliza um quadro teórico e um conjunto de dispositivos analíticos e operativos para enfrentar as consequências e os riscos complexos que decorrem da recorrência e do incremento da magnitude das tensões, crises e catástrofes que, não raras vezes, questionam as formas de sobrevivência da espécie humana. Sistemas urbanos resilientes pressupõem planeamento urbano orientado para fortalecer, no longo prazo, capacidade de aprendizagem (preparação), robustez (persistência), inovação (transformabilidade) e flexibilidade (adaptabilidade) não obstante os contextos de crise e/ou de transições repentinas. Planear resiliência urbana implica que se estruturem soluções para responder a riscos associados a crises e catástrofes esperados e inesperados. O objetivo deste artigo é contribuir para um debate sobre formas de catapultar as teorias e as práticas de planeamento para um estádio a partir do qual seja possível lidar com as crescentes fontes de incerteza. Esse propósito carece de referenciais teóricos e práticos capazes de injetar resiliência nos sistemas urbanos, viabilizando trajetórias orientadas para a sustentabilidade, entendida como meta-objetivo civilizacional. O contributo para esta discussão, apresentado neste trabalho, permite clarificar a constelação de conceitos e o estado de maturação do referencial teórico. Permite também considerar de que forma a resiliência pode servir de base normativa para a sustentabilidade e quais os pressupostos para planear resiliência urbana em contexto de ampliação de riscos, crises, catástrofes e incertezas.

Abstract The study of urban resilience has been a field of research of scholars, planning technicians and policy makers. It provides a theoretical framework and a set of analytical and operational devices to face the complex consequences and risks that result from the recurrence and increase in the magnitude of tensions, crises and catastrophes that, often, question the ways of survival of the human species. Resilient urban systems demand urban planning systems designed for strengthening, in the long run, learning capacity (preparation), robustness (persistence), innovation (transformability) and flexibility (adaptability), mainly in contexts of crisis and / or sudden transactions. Therefore, planning urban resilience implies structured solutions to respond to risks associated with expected and unexpected crises and catastrophes. The purpose of this article is to move forward the debate on planning theories and practices to deal with the growing uncertainty that characterizes extreme and unforeseen events. There is a gap in the theoretical and practical references able to place resilience in urban systems, making trajectories oriented towards sustainable development, understood as a civilizational goal. The contribution for this discussion will be based on the clarification of the constellation of concepts, the state of maturity of the theoretical framework, the reflection on how it can serve as a normative basis for sustainability and what are the assumptions for planning urban resilience pro-resilience in the context of expanding risks, crises, catastrophes and uncertainties.

Towards a necessary regenerative urban planning. Insights from community-led initiatives for ecocity transformation

Abstract This article suggests that to adequately tackle climate breakdown, urban planning needs to move beyond sustainability to incorporate regenerative development frameworks. Key to this is activating and increasing citizen participation in a fractal-like, multi scaled, community-led, bottom up planning process, where active citizens design, construct and are part of the futures they desire for their territories. 2019’s declarations of climate emergency show that decades of sustainable development have not worked. The Sustainable Development Goals are a positive step, but sustainability’s dependence on economic growth is problematic. Recognising Earth’s limits, this article builds on degrowth ideas and doughnut economic frameworks to examine the role of community-led urban transitions in catalysing a regenerative world, where ecocities are the normative goal of contemporary cities. Challenges in scaling the Global Ecovillage Network’s process to large cities are identified and some radical governance experiments examined. Attempting to bridge activism and academia, a transdisciplinary participative action research method is used to develop a Communities of Practice ecosystem to support an eco-social just transition. This work contributes to the European Network for Community-Led Initiatives on Climate Change and Sustainability, ECOLISE, the Horizon 2020 project UrbanA investigating Sustainable and Just Cities, and the Communities for Future action platform enabling translocal communities to connect, co-create a knowledge commons and help shape policy. Insights from Lisbon are examined with three community-led initiatives; Bela Flor, Ajuda and Marvila. These processes are still at the margins, but could soon become core activities of regenerative urban planning. Re-Making our cities is everyone’s business.

Disaster Preparedness Indicators: an application in the state of Paraná, Brazil

Abstract The present project is part of a planning study for structuring resilience in disaster risk reduction in cities. The objective of the article is to evaluate the capacity of municipal managers in terms of preparation for the occurrence of disasters. The article opted for an exploratory study, with the application of 10 interviews with specialists in risk management and disaster protection and civil defense. Ten municipalities were adopted in Paraná, in the south of Brazil, which had critical occurrences recorded between August/2016 and August/2017: hailstorms, storm tides (floods), runoffs and gale. The article provides how different municipalities deal with disaster preparedness, with a clear need for greater social and cultural involvement in their activities. Each municipality has its own characteristics in risk and disaster management. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to apply the methodology in other cities in Paraná. The document includes implications for the development of indicators that allow public managers to monitor risk and disaster management in communities, minimizing the negative impacts suffered by the local population. The document includes implications for the development of indicators for the other risk and disaster management stages. This document addresses a need identified in Brazil to study how municipal managers deal with preparation for extreme events, which are increasingly common in their cities.

International urban agendas and sustainable integrated urban development in developing countries: the case of Brazil

Abstract Due to the rapid and unrestrained growth of urbanization worldwide since the second half of the twentieth century, the global community is confronted with a broad spectrum of challenges. In response, the request for more sustainable cities developed in recent decades. Urban agenda setting, like the foundation of the UN-Habitat, emerged subsequently in the public policy process to countervail the negative impacts of the progress, especially in developing countries. The article wants to provide the reader with a brief introduction to global urban agendas in general and the New Urban Agenda (NUA) in specific, especially how they approach urban challenges. The analysis offers an overview of the context of the implementation of urban agendas and definitions of sustainability in its setting. Furthermore, it is examined, how non-binding doctrinaire documents like the NUA should be implemented on the regional and national levels. The challenges in implementing these urban agendas, the definition of sustainable urban agendas, and common international challenges are deconstructed and compared with the guiding principles of the NUA. The research question highlights potential approaches, how to improve the implementation of these agendas, and contributes to reducing the research gap of the global south in this regard. Therefore, as a case study, a closer look at the exemplary situation of the developing country Brazil, the local urban evolution, planning policies, and the local challenges are undertaken. To conclude, the challenges of the new urban era identified will be briefly reflected and possible pathways through alternative mechanisms, recommended by the NUA and other international guidelines, pointed out to foster implementation to the detriment of traditional local hard policy mechanisms.

A sustentabilidade no território difuso: reflexões sobre o caminho a seguir

Resumo A sustentabilidade entrou para a agenda-setting mediática, e por via disso do planeamento, com o relatório de Brundtland em 1987, cujas preocupações foram renovadas com a Declaração do Rio em 1992. Os 17 objetivos de Desenvolvimento Sustentável definidos em 2015 constituem o guia mais recente para a transformação sustentável do Mundo. A sustentabilidade das áreas urbanas assume especial preocupação face ao crescente aumento da extensão espacial, dos contingentes populacionais e das modificações ecológicas que acarretam. Atendendo às relações de interdependência no funcionamento do sistema ecológico, a sustentabilidade urbana demanda uma visão holística e sistémica do território e a adoção de um pensamento relacional. Para mais, obriga à erradicação da visão das cidades enquanto ‘ilhas estéreis’, que nega categoricamente às áreas urbanas a capacidade de desempenhar qualquer função ecológica. E, ainda, ao abandono de velhas dicotomias (e.g., cidade/campo, urbano/rural), que não captam a complexidade do território, particularmente em contextos de urbanização de difusa, como sucede no Noroeste de Portugal (conhecido como Minho), onde desde sempre se verificou uma continuidade entre a cidade e o campo e uma permeabilidade de funções. Face ao exposto, procura-se colocar em evidência os desafios na operacionalização e alcance da sustentabilidade no quadro específico da urbanização difusa, assim como promover o debate - nem endeusado, nem demonizado - sobre esta realidade urbana tão singular.

Abstract Sustainability entered on media's agenda, and by that on territorial planning, with the Brundtland report in 1987. These preoccupations were renewed with Rio Declaration in 1992. The 17 Sustainable Development goals defined in 2015 constitute the most recent guide to the sustainable transformation of the world. Urban sustainability assumes especially concern given the continuous increase of spatial extent, population, and ecological transformations. Considering the interdependences on ecological functioning, urban sustainability demands a holistic and systemic view of the territory and the adoption of relational thinking. In addition, it also requires the eradication of the common vision of cities as 'sterile islands', which denies categorically the ability of urban areas to perform any ecological function. As well, the abandonment of old dichotomies (e.g., city/country, urban/rural), which do not capture the complexity of the territory, in particularly the diffuse urbanization context characteristic of the Northwest of Portugal (known as Minho). Where the continuity between the city and countryside and the permeability of functions always has been present. In this context, we seek to highlight the challenges in operationalization and achieving sustainability in the specific context of diffuse urbanization. Concurrently, we intend to promote a debate - neither deified nor demonized - about this unique urban reality.

Ação pública para redução da vacância imobiliária: a implementação de instrumentos da função social da propriedade na cidade de São Paulo

Resumo Na cidade de São Paulo cerca de 10% dos domicílios estão fechados ou vagos, sendo grande parte deles em áreas bem providas com infraestrutura, enquanto parte da população vive em assentamentos precários e sem acesso a serviços básicos. Em 2014, a prefeitura municipal deu início à aplicação de instrumentos urbanísticos para reduzir a vacância imobiliária e, com isso, possibilitar a ampliação da oferta de moradia. A partir de um estudo de caso baseado em pesquisa documental, complementados por entrevistas com atores-chave e observação participante, este artigo descreve e analisa a implementação dos instrumentos da função social da propriedade entre os anos de 2014 a 2016, explorando o arranjo institucional constituído para levar a cabo essa iniciativa, e os resultados quantitativos para o período de 2014 a 2019. Observando a trajetória do setor de planejamento urbano em São Paulo, argumentamos que o arranjo institucional em tela representou uma ampliação do seu escopo de atuação e foi pilar fundamental para a aplicação dos instrumentos, que atingiu resultados expressivos e se consolidou como relevante experiência nacional.

Abstract In the city of São Paulo about 10% of households are either closed or vacant. A large part of them is located in areas well provided with infrastructure and services, while part of the population lives in precarious settlements and without access to basic services. In 2014, the city hall proceeded with the implementation of urban planning instruments to reduce property vacancy and, by this means, it intended to expand the offer of housing. Based on a case study developed with document research, complemented by interviews with key actors and participant observation, this article describes and analyzes the implementation of the instruments of the social function of property between the years 2014 to 2016, exploring the institutional arrangement constituted to carry out this initiative, and the quantitative results for the period from 2014 to 2019. Observing the trajectory of the urban planning sector in São Paulo, we argue that this institutional arrangement represents an expansion of the sector's scope of action and was a pillar fundamental for the application of the instruments, which achieved expressive results and consolidated itself as a relevant experience in national context.

Por um urbanismo sustentável: Um olhar sobre a vivência nas centralidades de subúrbios cariocas

Resumo Este artigo visa contribuir para a discussão sobre planejamento e projeto urbano sustentável enfocando situações identificadas em centralidades suburbanas. Avalia o rebatimento espacial de processos particulares e dinâmicas singulares que ocorrem nos subúrbios de Bonsucesso, Ramos e Olaria, na cidade do Rio de Janeiro, confrontando-os a instrumentos de ordenamento territorial vigentes, pouco aderentes a essas localidades, comprometendo sua sustentabilidade. A crítica ao planejamento tradicional e a políticas urbanas que privilegiam a produtividade econômica ignorando a experiência local, bem como uma avaliação da noção de sustentabilidade, são referências para o trabalho. Complementa-se com o entendimento de centralidade como noção não apenas geográfica e funcional, mas integradora de conteúdos sociais e culturais. A pesquisa adota três abordagens: uma enfatiza ações públicas e privadas ao longo do tempo na escala urbana; outra prioriza processos particulares na escala local; outra, ainda, destaca a vivência cotidiana na escala microlocal. A escolha da área de estudo se deve a dupla motivação: se trata de porção metropolitana relegada em investimentos públicos e privados e, portanto, suscetível a dinâmicas alternativas que evitam expulsar pessoas de menor renda do lugar; menção como importante centro regional em plano metropolitano recente. Concluímos com uma defesa do lugar, um convite à articulação de racionalidades alternativas para construir uma noção de sustentabilidade e a recuperar a dimensão política no pensamento relacionado ao planejamento e projeto urbano sustentável, a partir da compreensão das complexidades da realidade, baseando-se na experiência vivida e na inserção de agentes locais no processo.

Abstract This article aims to reflect about sustainable urban planning and project, focusing on situations identified in suburban centralities. It evaluates the impact on urban space of particular processes and singular dynamics that occur in the suburbs of Bonsucesso, Ramos and Olaria, in the Metropolis of Rio de Janeiro. They are faced to territorial planning tools applied to these localities with low adhesion, compromising a desirable sustainability. Our theoretical background is the critic towards traditional territorial planning and urban policies that prioritize economic productivity undermining local experience, and the notion of sustainability. It is complemented by the understanding of centrality not just a geographical and functional notion, but comprising social and cultural contempt. There are three approaches in the investigation: one emphasizes public and private actions in urban scale; other focus on particularities of the processes in local scale; another highlights daily experiences in the micro-local scale. The area of study choice relies on the condition to be metropolitan spaces despised in public and private investments, meaning to be receptive to alternative dynamics that avoid low income people to be displaced. It is also motivated by their ranking in a recent metropolitan plan as an important regional sub-centre. We conclude with an invitation to articulate alternative rationalities to construct a sustainability notion, besides the search to recover the political dimension for sustainable urban planning and project through understanding the urban reality’s complexities, based on the lived experiences, and in the inclusiveness in the process of local agents.

Em direção ao movimento Slow City: planejamento público coletivo na sustentabilidade de um pequeno município brasileiro

Resumo Partindo do pressuposto que o movimento Slow City representa uma alternativa na mitigação de problemas socioambientais contemporâneos, o presente estudo aborda a gestão do território de forma compartilhada como proposta promissora de sustentabilidade. Seu objetivo é analisar o processo de planejamento para a mobilização dos diferentes atores sociais de um pequeno município brasileiro para os fins de qualificá-lo na filosofia Slow City. Desta forma, evidencia-se uma abordagem de planejamento socialmente construído com impacto na governança local. Neste caso, as noções de planejamento público, sustentabilidade e Slow City são revisadas e um estudo de caso foi aplicado. Por meio da pesquisa-ação os procedimentos de coleta de dados envolveram observações de campo, entrevistas, além de análise temática. Como principais resultados, ressalta-se o papel das instituições, técnicos, comunidade científica e população em transformação num esforço coletivo na articulação de um planejamento público inspirado no método de Planejamento Estratégico Situacional (PES). Concluiu-se que a utilização deste método ampliou as possibilidades do município em planejar suas ações a fim de se especializar como uma Slow City. Também possibilitou o maior envolvimento dos cidadãos, sobretudo, no que tange ao levantamento das informações necessárias para a elaboração de diagnósticos e na proposição de ações e compromissos futuros a serem assumidos pela cidade, como a questão da sustentabilidade e da resolução de problemas ambientais severos que assombram o entorno da comunidade local.

Abstract Based on the assumption that the Slow City movement represents an alternative in the mitigation of contemporary socio-environmental problems, this study approaches the management of the territory in a shared way as a promising proposal for sustainability. The objective is to analyse the planning process for the mobilization of the different social actors in a Brazilian small municipality for the purposes of qualifying it in the Slow City philosophy. In this way, a socially constructed planning approach with an impact on local governance. In this case, the notions of public planning, sustainability and Slow City are reviewed and a case study was applied. Through action research, data collection procedures involved field observations, interviews, in addition to thematic analysis. As main results, the role of institutions, technicians, the scientific community and the population in transformation is highlighted in a collective effort in the articulation of public planning inspired by the Situational Strategic Planning (SSP) method. It was concluded that the use of this method expanded the possibilities of the municipality in planning its actions in order to specialize as a Slow City. It also made it possible for citizens to be more involved, especially with regard to the collection of information necessary for the elaboration of diagnoses and in proposing future actions and commitments to be assumed by the city, such as the issue of sustainability and the resolution of severe environmental problems that haunt the surroundings of the local community.

Planning the sustainable development of historic neighbourhoods through the management of significance: A proposal for a values-based approach in Santarém’s Mouraria

Abstract In Santarém, as in several Portuguese historic urban centres, population decline and aging have compromised social cohesion and economic vitality, and parts of the Historic Centre have visibly deteriorated, resulting in risks to the public of crumbling façades. Sustainable development in urban areas must involve a reorientation of spatial planning policies to integrate older areas into wider urban and regional development frameworks, considering them as part of the wider territory. This paper proposes that the operationalisation of the recommendations of the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) approach can provide robust evidence, co-produced with local communities, supporting sustainable urban planning policies, and that such an approach is wholly consistent with EU and national planning and conservation legislation. Through focusing on the values, meanings and significance of place, the processes shaping the HUL of an empirical test neighbourhood, the Mouraria in Santarém, are brought into focus.