Urban citizenship(s) in Lisbon: examining the case of Mouraria

Abstract

During the last couple of years it has been possible to witness the progressive commodification of Lisbon. The adoption of neoliberal strategies of urban development -oriented towards competitiveness and aimed at putting Lisbon at the forefront of the international metropolitan group -has contributed to the reshaping of its landscape. The organization of flagship events, privatization of public spaces and development of local policies oriented towards the promotion of creative industries, and the increasing relevance that various forms of tourism have assumed, illustrate well the path that has been followed. However, expressions of urban citizenship against this destructive trajectory have emerged, showing that the urban development of Lisbon is a contentious process and has to face multiple strategies of resistance. In this paper we look at three expressions of citizenship in Mouraria, a neighbourhood located in the historical centre of Lisbon, in which the tensions and contradictions between neoliberal urbanism and urban citizenship take place.

Unfolding authenticity within retail gentrification in Mouraria, Lisbon

“…Evoking a past marked by the strong presence of Muslim population in this neighbourhood, at present, the number of residents coming from different countries is still a landmark that distinguishes the neighbourhood. These answers corroborates Carmo and Estevens (2017), who have argued that, currently, the interethnic composition of the Mouraria, together with some folk imagery, such aforementioned Fado, are essential in the construction of the image and identity of the neighbourhood. In their research, these authors also enhanced the role of public initiatives, that resorting to those elements as vehicles of urban transformation, aimed to reshape the Mouraria image.…”

Articulating urban change in Southern Europe: Gentrification, touristification and financialisation in Mouraria, Lisbon

“…While the economic crisis hit Portugal (in 2009) and the country requested a financial bailout (in 2011), negotiating deep austerity measures, the regeneration agenda became, together with the attraction of tourism and international investment, the central feature of local anti-crisis policies, further increasing the symbolic importance of Mouraria for the municipal government. According to several authors (e.g., Carmo and Estevens, 2017; Corte-Real, 2015; Tulumello, 2016b), the regeneration strategy was typical of neoliberal policymaking: disproportionate investment in entrepreneurship and tourism when compared to social cohesion policies; absence of public housing policies; focus on concepts like capacity building, activation, partnership, participation and empowerment (on neoliberal co-optation of the participation agenda, see Miraftab (2004) and Falanga (2018)); and branding of cultural activities (especially Fado music).…”

“…Mouraria was interpreted as a space of negotiation and conflict between, on the one hand, an institutional action driven by neoliberal ideas and, on the other, a ‘dense’ social fabric capable of organising on the grounds of its own socio-cultural diversity (Tulumello, 2016b; see also Carmo and Estevens, 2017): the latter, Tulumello argued (2016b), was being able to take advantage of the contradictions and ambiguities of neoliberal urban policies to undergo a path of local development. However, the question remained open as to ‘whether current trends [would] consolidate in local development, increased diversity, and social cohesion – or turn towards advanced stages of gentrification’ (2016b: 132).…”

Interpellation and Urban transformation: Lisbon’s sardine subjects

“…Alongside these the EGEAC sardine represents the state's endorsement of the Santos Populares as an intensification of civic life, but also as an opportunity for a festival of tourism. Municipal bodies have mobilised the reinvention of traditions to further the commodification of urban life through tourism and gentrification (Carmo and Estevens 2017). EGEAC, along with other social and political institutions, use the sardine to suggest certain forms of behaviour in the city.…”