- Sustainable Development Policies in an Environment of Demographic Loss    click here to open paper content1388 kb
by    Lameiras, José António & Dinis Machado, José | j.dinis@sapo.pt   click here to send an email to the auther(s) of this paper
Short Outline
In a moment of political and economic uncertainty, Portugal must know which is the best way of proceeding towards the new challenges.
How can we apply the concept of eco-city to an urban structure that is a World Heritage Site?
Abstract
The territorial scope that is intended to address, corresponds to the city
of Porto, located in the northern region of Portugal, on the western
periphery of Europe.
In last 30 years, the city of Porto has lost approximately 25% of its
population (today around 225.000 inhabitants), fruit of migration to
neighboring territories, included within the metropolitan area that
polarizes the city of Porto, and the absence of municipal policies that
countered these moves to exit.
In contrast, the population that uses the city has grown as a result of the
installation of services and public institutions, especially those in
technical colleges and universities.
City witch the historic center is a World Heritage Site and that is the
apex of the “triangle trade” of Port wine (Douro: production; Gaia:
storage; Porto: trade), home of works that are “born” of the architecture
university, one of the most prestigious of the world, along with
engineering and medicine universities, have in these factors the reason for
its rising demand as a city of heritage, culture and science.
Aware that environmental issues currently placed in metropolitan areas have
to be resolved at this scale, the municipalities of Porto Metropolitan Area
(PMA), even in the absence of a body with functions of metropolitan
government, implemented a series of actions with impact improving on
environmental quality and greater efficiency of services and of the
economy, with emphasis on: central composting and incineration of
metropolitan solid waste, light rail network, high-water network supply,
etc.
In is turn, the city of Porto has carried out complementary activities,
with direct impact on its geographic territory and binding capacity of the
resident population and attraction of new generations.
These operations come into sustainable development policies, that the city
government has implemented, and aimed to strengthening social and
territorial cohesion, economic development, safeguarding and improving
environmental quality, adding a logic of territorial competitiveness.
The most important ones are:
• Increased public green area per inhabitant, by consolidating the
systematic delineation of the ecological structure;
• The reinforcement, along with the Metro system, sustainable mobility,
with the installation of cycle lanes, public transport with trams and the
reduction in private motor transport;
• The preservation and reuse of the built heritage, with policies on urban
regeneration interventions offset by new construction;
• Increase of renewable energy sources (solar thermal, photovoltaic and
geothermal);
• Implementation of environmental monitoring systems and urban planning.
Keywords
Eco-city, World Heritage Site
Case Study presented on the ISOCARP Congress 2011: LIVEABLE CITIES: URBANISING WORLD, Meeting the Challenge
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