Students challenged to make Mouraria neighborhood more sustainable. Discover how

Mouraria was the Lisbon neighborhood chosen to take part in the international Students Reinventing Cities competition, organized by the C40 Cities group. The goal of the initiative is to support proposals for reinventing and transforming greener, more inclusive, and more prosperous neighborhoods by challenging students to collaborate with 12 cities in different countries.

The cities themselves selected the neighborhoods, blocks or main streets to be transformed and invited multidisciplinary teams of students to rethink the way these are planned, designing a path to decarbonize these urban areas and improve the quality of life of their communities, through solutions aligned with the 15-minute city model (concept by Carlos Moreno) and on which Peggada has already written.

The Mouraria neighborhood is located on the Castle Hill, an area that has seen a growing local abandonment rate (the population has declined by 56% since the 1960s) and a demographic imbalance between the young and the old, and also between locals and foreigners.

Ideas for Mouraria

For Mouraria, students can propose ideas that combat desertification and improve its sustainability, while protecting its identity and authenticity, based on the following key actions:

– natural-based solutions for public space that help reduce the urban heat island effect and the impacts of heat waves – one of Lisbon’s main climate concerns is the increase in extreme events and their impact on the population’s health and quality of life;

– projects that improve water reuse and adaptation to climate change, promoting the circularity of the urban water cycle;

– initiatives that empower local communities and use art as a vehicle for raising climate awareness and adopting a more sustainable lifestyle.

Aligned with Students Reinventing Cities, the Colina do Castelo Hub project, launched
in 2022, also wants to meet the challenge of sustainable transformation and well being of the communities, combining tradition and innovation for more circular neighborhoods. This is part of the European HUB-IN initiative and is developed by the Lisbon City Council and the Lisboa E-Nova agency.

Students and universities (especially architecture, urbanism, environment, engineering, sociology, economics, and arts) wishing to participate should submit their proposals in English (preferably) or Portuguese by March 30, on the initiative’s website. Projects can be finalized and submitted until May 25.

The winning projects will be announced in July and will be entitled, not to monetary prizes, but to visibility with the local mayor and the C40 Cities group, through social networks, press releases, the initiative’s website, and presentations of the work to local political representatives.