Starting the summer of 2022, a time traditionally marked by the return of emigrants to Portugal for the holidays, the 44th issue of CIDADES, Comunidades e Territórios presents a

In the aftermath of the pandemic, teleworking in Portugal maintains a very high standard of adherence among workers and employers, with the contribution of dedicated legal frameworks, as these new ways of working continue to encourage innovative workspace configurations in the territories, triggering new urban dynamics, particularly significant to our observation. The thematic dossier opening this 46th issue of CIDADES, Comunidades e Territórios offers a set of contributions on this issue. “Working Beyond Boundaries: Redefining Work Modes and Spaces Across Geographies”, edited by Elisabete Tomaz, Cristina Henriques, Chiara Tagliaro and Uglješa Stankov (^{Tomaz et al., 2023}), gathers three articles, one interview and one book review on the theme of coworking spaces and its multiple connections with urban, labour and social ecosystems. The timely pertinence of its central topic inspired the reflections gathered here, while certainly not exhausting them. We hope this dossier may inspire further studies on subjects related to these new trends that are revolutionizing working arrangements and spaces, along with the territories that provide the setting for these complex relationships. CIDADES, Comunidades e Territórios will remain attentive and receptive to further developments on these subjects, for sure.

Following the thematic dossier, five additional articles, one essay and a book review round off the issue. The first article, “Students with an immigrant background in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area. Evidence at the municipal, school, and class levels” is authored by Sílvia de Almeida, João Firmino, José Mesquita Gabriel, Maria João Hortas and Luís Catela Nunes. Supported by a broad analysis on educational statistics, this work intends to explore the differences of academic performance of immigrant background students of the 3rd cycle of basic education in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (LMA). Overall, the data reinforces aspects that are already well-discussed on specialized literature. The innovative feature of this study arises from the intersection between students’ academic performances with territorial factors. In addition to demonstrating that migration flows are not homogeneously distributed across the LMA territory, the results accentuate the different results by students from Portuguese-speaking countries (such as Brazil and African countries of Portuguese official language - PALOP), compared to Portuguese students and those from other European countries. Although somewhat paradoxical, this conclusion is not strange to the multiple explanatory factors that may contribute to it. Authors stress the role that specific schools and the entire school environment may have in the integration of these students, more so than the municipalities where they are located, and in the ability to provide them with conditions to overcome academic challenges.

In the second article, Yaqueline Guevara-Quinchúa and Andrés Francel present “Evaluación del espacio público para personas con movilidad reducida. Ibagué, Colombia”. Through this Colombian case study, the authors draw attention to the poor pedestrian accessibility conditions faced by many people with physical limitations in urban areas, and the need to promote inclusive design in spatial planning. In conjunction with the accessibility issues on the urban spaces, or more specifically, the lack thereof, the authors highlight the weak political and administrative investment in urban planning as explanatory causes for socio-spatial segregation in Colombian cities. As such, they conclude that a good part of urban public spaces remains a privilege of a few, while they should be universally accessible.

Moving from the public space to building facades, the third article addresses the processes of urban rehabilitation characterized by the maintenance of facades with the demolition of the interiors. Authored by Sérgio Miguel Godinho and Pedro Luz Pinto, “Facade retention in the city of Lisbon: resonances, history and typologies” illustrates through several examples the trend towards normalization of an architectural practice of urban rehabilitation in the 1980s and 1990s. The authors’ critical tone concerning the sole maintenance of building facades hints towards a simplified notion of heritage, or a reduction of the buildings’ memory to a superficial cover. This concern over maintaining the historic facades of a city that is renewing itself within its bowels implicitly carries a strong symbolic load converted into economic value, and the ability to attract attention and investment to the city centre. According to the authors, this pragmatic solution of facade retention is ambiguous and insufficient, both because of its underlying mistakes and simplifications, and of the morphological results it produces.

The fourth article retains us in the architectural domain. Authored by Teresa Madeira da Silva, “The concept of architectural place: contributions from architecture and hermeneutic philosophy” proposes the introduction of subjective meaning components inspired by philosophy to support the reading of architectural places. This reflective exercise entails perceiving the meanings of the subjects’ temporal readings of architectural spaces, as well as the multiplicity of understandings, changes in uses, singularities and linkages that spaces themselves can carry out through their transformative dynamics. According to the author, places and cities are always charged with non-objectivity that produces meaning and allows them to be appropriated in an unprecedented way, one that is an open and unlimited field of possibilities.

The last article is entitled “The fine arts service of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and the attribution of scholarships to architects (1960-2000),” by Patrícia Bento d’Almeida and Teresa Marat-Mendes. It focuses on the financial support granted by the Fine Arts Department of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (SBA-FCG) to research in 'Architecture and Urbanism' developed at the National Laboratory for Civil Engineering (LNEC). Comprising the period since these aids were created (1960) until 2000, this study is a systematic analysis on a very specific theme, based on archival materials deposited in two entities (FCG library and LNEC). Besides the unprecedented presentation of the information obtained, this work provides an updated reading of the research in architecture and urbanism developed and experimented in Portugal in the considered time frame. In conclusion, the authors highlight the importance of the support granted by SBA-FCG to architectural research and practice in Portugal, and more specifically to LNEC, namely through the acquisition, improvement and diffusion of techniques acquired abroad.

In the essay section, Masa Bratusa discusses “The gender of commute” to highlight the often-marginalized role of women in architecture and spatial production, as well as in the use of space. Hence, the issue of women's mobility in the urban/suburban territories is emphasized. In this essay, the author points out a series of gender differences, such as the case of travel behaviour. The way in which women reduce their commuting movements after having children and how it conditions their work options and career itself is just one example, calling for readers’ awareness of other gender issues that often go unnoticed. In closing, the phrase “Women in architecture for women in architecture” may be the author's way of summing up the general purpose of this essay. Notwithstanding the relevance of gender issues, it is important to stress that the richness and breadth of the questions posed in this reflection deserve an open reading.

Finally, in the book review section, Maria João Freitas invites readers to a very rich and captivating immersion in the book Espaço, Lugar e Território. Figuras do pensamento português contemporâneo. Organized by André Carmo, this book presents 41 figures of contemporary Portuguese thought from various disciplinary, scientific and technical fields who have contributed/ continue to contribute to thinking and acting in the territory, in different ways. Each is presented in a dedicated chapter through the writing of authors (mostly academics) whose work or research paths intersect with these figures. It is interesting to note the gender reservations expressed in the book’s introduction: among the 41 ‘honoured’ thinkers, 11 are women, and 18 (in 41) chapters were written by women. This excellent overview presented by Maria João Freitas hopefully encourages a full reading of this essential reference and consultation work for all those interested in and working on issues of Space, Place and Territory. Several similar foreign reference compilations have been produced; in Portugal, however, this work has been long due, one that is capable of showing the scientific and technical richness of contemporary Portuguese thinkers in this format.

We would like to thank the authors and reviewers who contributed to this issue of CCT. Lastly. a grateful and heartfelt tribute to Professor Vítor Matias Ferreira, founder of the CIDADES, Comunidades e Territórios. THANK YOU!