New urbanism, tourism and urban regeneration in Eastern Lisbon, Portugal

Abstract

The Park of Nations zone in Lisbon, Portugal, is a neighbourhood in the eastern part of the city that was regenerated in order to stage the World’s Fair in 1998 and to urbanise it during and after that special event. Guidelines that resemble those of the New Urbanism movement were implemented in the planning and building processes which led to the regeneration of the neighbourhood. The Park of Nations zone is now both a new downtown and a new tourism zone in Lisbon, and this is the result of the implementation of those guidelines. This paper uses a case-study method to explain the link between New Urbanism guidelines, tourism and the creation of a new downtown. The fact that the Park of Nations zone has recently gained the status of new freguesia (city parish or district), when the city reduced the number of freguesias from 53 to 24, is recognition of the success of the regeneration effort and the impact that the regenerated zone has had on the city of Lisbon.