Planning a Metropolis from Infrastructure: LISBON from 1940-1966

1. Presented By:
Abushan Panta
Pusp Raj Bhatt
Planning History
January 2016
Pusp Raj Bhatt
pusprajbhatt.wordpress.com

2. PLANNING
PREDECTION OF FUTURE
FROM KNOWLWDGE OF
PAST
METROPOLIS
URBAN AREA WHICH IS
SIGNIFICANT ECOMONIC,
POLITICAL AND
CULTURAL CENTER OF A
COUNTRY OR A REGION
LISBON

3. LISBON
• SHAPED BY UNIQUE LANDSCAPE FEATURE LIKE EUROPE’S
WESTERNMOST FINISTERRAE, CABO DA ROCA, THE TAGUS
RIVER, CULTURAL LANDSCAPE IN SINTRA, LISTED AS WORLD
HERITAGE

4. LISBON
• UNTIL 1940S, LISBON WAS MONOCENTRICAL WITH AN URBAN
GROWTH PATTERN OF A CONTIGUOUS CONFIGURATION ALONG THE
COAST AND OLD ROYAL ROADS.
• IN 1940 THE SPATIAL AND POLITICAL CONSTRUCTION OF
PORTUGAL’S DICTATORIAL REGIME EMBODIED IN THE EXHIBITION
OF THE PORTUGUESE WORLD
• GRAND EXHIBITION WAS STAGED TO PROMOTE PORTUGAL'S
SUPERIORITY THAT COINCIDED WITH TWO SIGNIFICANT EVENTS IN
PORTUGAL'S HISTORY; FOUNDATION OF THE COUNTRY IN 1140, AND
THE RESTORATION OF INDEPENDENCE FROM SPAIN IN 1640.
• EXHIBITION WAS A SCENARIO CELEBRATING ACCOMPLISHMENT OF
NEW STATE, WHICH WAS DEFINING ITS ROLE AS CAPITAL

5. LISBON
• FOR EXHIBITION—THE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, PORT CARGO
AND PASSENGER TERMINALS, HOSPITAL AND UNIVERSITY
CAMPUSES, MODERN ELECTRICITY, GAS, AND WATER SUPPLY
NETWORKS HAD TO BE BUILT FAST

6. LISBON
• PUBLIC WORKS WERE DRIVING FORCE OF HIGHLY
CENTRALIZED AND EFFECTIVE NATIONAL POLICY OF
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND URBAN IMPROVEMENTS.
• ARCHITECTURE AND PUBLIC SPACE ENTANGLED WITH URBAN
INFRASTRUCTURE BECAME VEHICLES OF MASS
COMMUNICATION
• CHANGING POLITICAL ARRANGEMENTS, ECONOMIC
PRIORITIES AND PLANNING PRACTICES MADE SPATIAL FRAME
FOR INFRASTRUCTURAL, URBAN AND INDUSTIRAL
DEVELOPMEN
• NEW HEAVY INFRASTRUCTURE SUPPORTED SIGNIFICANT
CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS URBAN CONFIGURATIONS

7. LISBON
• FOR COMMUTING TRAVEL TAGUS BRIDGE WAS OPENED IN
1966
TAGUS BRIDGE

8. LISBON
• INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNED TO SUPPORT NEW STAGE TOOK
DECADES CAUSING DELAY OF THE MEDIATING ROLE OF
INFRASTRUCTURE AND INFORMAL URBAN DEVELOPMENT
• IN 1940 METROPOLITAN PUBLIC WORKS WAS MADE CLEAR AS
INFRASTRUCTURE IT SELF BECAME PUBLIC SPACE

9. LISBON
• AFTER FALL OF MONARCHY IN 1910 PORTUGAL ENTERED
FIRST REPUBLIC
• MARKED BY POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC INSTABILITY
• PROTUGAL WAS PREDOMINANTLY RURAL WITH 60%
EMPLOYED IN AGRICULTURE
• FRAGILE URBAN STRUCTURE OUT OF WHICH EMERGED TWO
FRAGILE URBAN CENTERS OF LISBON AND PORTO
• LISBON GREW TO ALMOST SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND
INHABITANTS BY 1930
• NO POST-WORLD WAR I ECONOMIC BOOM AS COMPARED TO
OTHER EUROPE
• RUN DOWN STATE AND COUNTRY SCENARIO OPENED DOOR
TO MILITARY COUP IN 1928, LEADING TO THE
ESTABLISHMENT OF A DICTATORIAL AND CORPORATIVE
REGIME, UNDER 1933 CONSTITUTION

10. LISBON
• NEW STATE LASTED FOR 40 YEARS MARKED BY STRONG
EMPHASIS ON THE ORGANIZATION OF AN OPERATIVE
INSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURE FOR THE STATE AGENCIES
• PUBLIC WORK WERE KEY COMPONENT OF A NATIONAL
POLICY WHICH AIMED TO REDUCE UNEMPLOYMENT BY
BRIDGING INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT WITH
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL IMPROVEMENT
• 1938-1943 PLAYED A PROMINENT ROLE IN BRIDGING THE
IDEOLOGICAL FRAME, THE POLICY LEVEL AND THE
IMPLEMENTATION TOOLS.
• NATIONAL BOARD OF ROADS CREATED IN 1927, IMPORTANT
BODIES WITHIN INSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURE

11. LISBON
• SPECIFIC AREA OF PUBLIC WORK DIRECTLY LED NATIONAL
STATE AGENCIES-THE RURAL IMPROVEMENT UNDER
GUIDANCE OF THE NATIONAL BOARD OF ROADS AND LATER
BECAME INTEGRATED INTO DGSU
• AIMED AT LOCAL IMPROVEMENT INVOLVING COUNTRYSIDE
RURAL ROADS
• AFTER 1940, ARCHITECTS COMMISSIONED TO DEVELOP
• STANDARIDZED DESIGN FOR BUILDINGS ROADSIDE
FEATURES FOCUSING ASTHETICS
• PORTUGUESE TECHNICALS BEACME INTERNATIONALLY
FAMED FOR MODERNIZATION OF ROAD
• HIRED ARCHITECTS TO DESIGN PORT AND URBAN PLANNING

12. Master Plan:
LISBON, Portuga
Lisbon’s Masterplan
of 1948, supervised
by:
Etienne de Gro¨ er

13. LISBON
• 1934 LEGISLATION MADE COMPULSORY DRAFTING OF URBAN
PLAN FOR URBAN SETTLEMENTS
• UNDER SUCH A LEGAL FRAMEWORK AND THE GUIDANCE OF
THE FRENCH–HUNGARIAN URBANIST,A NEW MASTERPLAN
FOR THE LISBON MUNICIPALITY WAS MADE
• NEW RADIOCONCENTRIC MODEL TAKING THE STRUCTURE OF
PUBLIC SPACE UP TO A NEW METROLOTIAN SCALE
• MASTER PLAN BASED ON FUNCTIONAL ZONING AND THE
HIERARCHIZED DIFFERENTIATION OF TRAFFIC WAYS
• AFFILIATION WITH HOWARD’S GARDEN CITIES MOVEMENT

14. LISBON
Seixal Masterplan,
supervised by
Paulo Cunha,1952

15. LISBON
DEVELOPMENT
• MOST OF THE TAGUS RIVERFRONT IN LISBON WAS UNDER
THE JURISDICTION OF THE PORT AUTHORITY WHICH WAS
GIVEN AUTONOMY IN CONDUCTING ITS OPERATIONS AND
PLANNING INITIATIVES
• THIS JURISDICTION WATERFRONT WAS AFFECTED BY AN
EXTENSION OF OVER 6.5 KM LONG OF LANDFILLS
• LISBONS LINEAR AND FLAT TERRITORY REDEFINED
RELATION WITH RIVERSCAPE
• NORTHERN PART IN 1946, PETROCHEMCAL INDUSTRIES –
RELIEVING WESTERN SECTOR
• SOUTH TRADITIONAL HISTORICAL SMALL URBAN CITIES
ACTED AS RIVERLINE TO THE CAPITAL
• THE PLANS COVERED THE SOUTH BANK VILLAGES,
• DIFFERENT APPROACH TO THE ROLE OF ALMADA IN THE
METROPOLITAN STRUCTURE – VILLAGE CLOSE TO LISBON

16. LISBON
• ALAMADA AS CAPITAL’S MAIN EXPANSION AREAS
• ANOTHER IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTION TO THIS
DEVELOPMENT WAS THE RELOCATION AND MODERNIZATION
OF THE NAVAL SECTOR WITH THE ESTABLISHMENT ON
ALMADA’S SHORES OF A LARGE NAVAL BASE AND
SHIPBUILDING YARD (OPENED IN 1938)
• MONASATO IN 1930-1940, NEIGHBORHOODS WERE
INTEGRATED AS PART OF A MULTIPURPOSE LANDSCAPE
• THE PARK MEDIATES BETWEEN THE CITY AND THE
EMERGING METROPOLIS.
• CAPARICA, A SMALL FISHERMEN SETTLEMENT ON THE
ATLANTIC COAST, WAS ALSO GIVEN A SPECIFIC PLAN
TARGETED AT TOURIST DEVELOPMENT.

17. LISBON
• ONE OF THE PLAN’S MAJOR CONCERNS WAS THE WAY A NEW
ROAD SYSTEM COULD BE IMPLEMENTED TO ACHIEVE THE
DUAL GOAL OF ENABLING MORE EFFICIENT AND SMOOTH
TRAFFIC FLOWS ON THE SOUTH BANK APPROACH TO LISBON,
AND ALSO FOR CAREFUL LANDSCAPE PROTECTION AND
EMBELLISHMENT.
• DE GRO¨ER OFFERED A SOLUTION IN WHICH THE NEW ROADS
BYPASSED THE OLD SETTLEMENTS
• WHICH ADD ON: PROTECTING THEM FROM UNDESIRABLE
BUILDING OCCUPATION
• THE USE OF DIFFERENT PARCEL SIZES WAS USED TO CREATE
A TRANSITIONAL ZONE BETWEEN THE MORE DENSELY BUILT
URBAN AREAS AND THE RURAL SPACES ALONG THE MAIN
PROPOSED ROADS
• LISBON’S SOUTH BANK STRESSES THE IMPORTANCE OF A
CHANGING POLITICAL AND ECONOMICAL BACKGROUND IN
THE IMPLEMENTATION PROCESSES

18. LISBON
THE EROSION OF PUBLIC URBAN PLANNING
AND DEVELOPMENT
• THE CHANGING NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL AND
ECONOMIC CIRCUMSTANCES AFTER THE WAR PERIOD WAS A KEY
FACTOR IN THE REASSESSMENT OF NATIONAL POLICIES AIMED AT
INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT
• ON THE OTHER HAND, STRONG POLITICAL PRESSURE WAS EMERGING
FROM THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN THE BUILDING INDUSTRY AND
THE LARGE LANDOWNERS
• AN IMPORTANT SHIFT AWAY FROM THE 1930S LEGISLATIVE
FRAMEWORK
• AS LARGE-SCALE DEVELOPMENT SCHEMES WERE APPEARING, MAJOR
FRINGES OF LOW INCOME
• POPULATION WERE KEPT OUT OF THE FORMAL HOUSING MARKET
DUE TO PERSISTENTLY HIGH PRICES AND RENT VALUES
• AS A RESULT, ILLEGAL URBANIZATION AND PLOT TRANSACTIONS
OCCURRED IN THE PERIPHERAL AREAS

19. LISBON
DISINTANGLEMENT IN HOUSING AND
INFRASTRUCTURE
• THE 1948 MASTERPLAN RECOMMENDATION OF A PARKWAY SCHEME,
WITH CONTINUOUS GREEN LEISURE AREAS AROUND THE ROADWAYS,
WAS NOT COMPLETELY TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT WHEN THE ROADS
WERE ACTUALLY BUILT,
• FOLLOWING THE INTERNATIONAL TRENDS OF MODERN URBANISM—
THE TRADITIONAL STREET/BLOCK/BUILDING RELATIONSHIP GAVE
WAY TO A LOOSER LAYOUT OF ROAD PATHS

20. LISBON
The Role of Transportation Infrastructures: From
Comprehensive Planning to Postponed Armature
• IN RESPONSE TO THE SUBURBAN GROWTH OF LISBON AND TO THE
LONG-HELD AMBITION OF ESTABLISHING A RIVER CROSSING
BETWEEN THE BANKS OF THE TAGUS RIVER,
• THE GOVERNMENT BEGAN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE SALAZAR
BRIDGE IN 1962, COMPLETING IT IN 1966
• LISBON’S 1948 MASTERPLAN INCORPORATED THE NORTH-SOUTH AXIS
AS AN
• URBAN HIGHWAY ACTING AS THE MAIN TRAFFIC DISTRIBUTOR
•1940S, A ‘‘PRE-METROPOLITAN’’ PLANNING POLICY WAS BEING
INTRODUCED THROUGH A TWO-TIERED CONCEPTUAL APPROACH TO
THE TERRITORY AND ITS DYNAMICS, WITH GREAT FORMAL DETAIL AT
LOCAL SCALES AND A MORE SCHEMATIC APPROACH ON LARGER ONES.
IT WAS SUCH A DESIGNED SPATIAL APPROACH THAT MADE THE
METROPOLIS OF PUBLIC WORKS IDENTIFIABLE FROM AN
ARCHITECTURAL PERSPECTIVE

21. LISBON
Lisbon Masterplan, supervised by Georges
Meyer-Heine, 1966