Praça de Todas as Nações

Facility | Public Space | Participation | Urbanism

Anjos, Lisboa, Portugal

Project

The Praça das Novas Nações is a crucial public space in the territory of Anjos. Despite its high level of degradation and neglect, this square is a landmark with constant movement, occupation, and experience by the local community and the children from Sampaio Garrido Elementary School.

Since 2012, solutions have been sought in collaboration with the school's children, and between 2018 and 2019, as part of the BIP-ZIP program, the cooperatives Trabalhar com os 99% and SOU Largo Residências, with essential support from the school, developed a public discussion process about the future of the square. This work, carried out within the school by students, was combined with various moments of discussion in residents' assemblies. The process was widely publicized, with the support of local shop owners in announcing and disseminating the project's progress.

The daily insecurity and discomfort experienced at the entrance and exit of the school, as well as the potential for expanding the playground to the neighborhood, reinforce the urgency of this project, which embodies a process of public involvement and addresses multiple concerns:

A direct pedestrian connection between the square and the school
Strengthening of the tree network and soil permeability
Modification of the road system, reducing areas for car circulation and maintaining bus routes
Designing accessible pedestrian crossings for individuals with reduced mobility
Creation of intergenerational and multifunctional play spaces, beyond a traditional playground
Establishment of outdoor seating areas near the cafés in the square
Organizing the waste management system
Implementing extensive seating areas throughout the garden

This project is the result of an initiative that has had discussion and participation for several years, in which a neighbourhood mobilised to decide and propose to the municipality what they believe should be done with their square.