Heritage and History as resources for the creation of new, sustainable, City: the Alburrica and Quinta Braamcamp case study
Heritage and History as resources for the creation of new, sustainable, City: the Alburrica and Quinta Braamcamp case study
Submission ID:
70
In the second decade of the 21th century the Lisbon Metropolitan Area had a strong increase in real estate investment, boosted by tourism and favourable international circumstances. Former industrial sites have been especially attractive, areas suitable for conversion into significant size housing developments. In many cases, important heritage and environmental values are at stake, as proximity and visibility to the river are especially valued by the market.
The Qta. Braamcamp, on the Tagus riverfront of Barreiro, opposite to Lisbon, is a developing case which concentrates all these issues. An industrial facility for cork production until two decades ago, now deactivated, it had previously been a ‘Quinta de Recreio’, a Portuguese Villa (rural leisure venue) for the Lisbon eighteenth century aristocracy, and also dedicated to the production of silk yarn, among other products. Tightly linked to the Tagus estuary, this area of Alburrica and Quinta Braamcamp is furthermore an example of a centuries-old legacy of the man's balanced use of natural resources, through semi-artisanal technologies such as milling by the force of winds and tides. It is an important testimony of a development anchored in the understanding, complementarity and equilibrium between man and nature.
The transformation of this unique territory, currently under debate, with plans publicly divulged, may and should be anchored in the preservation and enhancement of its historical heritage and environmental values. Contemporary urban development in the 21st century must be based on the intrinsic and founding values of each place, incorporating them, creating differentiation and preserving them, in order to create a new urbanity of strong environmental awareness.
This study addresses this issues as an example which may draw useful insights for other spots of former industrial premises around the Tagus estuary, such as Margueira, Jamor, Quimiparque and CUF, all currently under pressure for urbanization.
Preferred Track
4. Environment Impact Awareness in Urban Developments
Second Preferred Track
3. Terrain vague redevelopments