Tenth International Conference on The Constructed Environment

Abstract

Analysing recent projects along the Tagus Estuary hydrographic network, the aim of this research is to highlight the potential of urban regeneration projects bound to water. Hence, the most evident limit (the water space of the Tagus Estuary and its humid system) can function as the strongest binder, natural link and shared public space of a densely urbanised area settled along the estuary – named as the City of the Tagus Estuary (CTE). This research highlights how water is becoming support for landscape and urban projects that tend to make the CTE more habitable. Located respectively on the north and south banks of the Tagus River, the analysed projects become a way to think over urban strategies that use water as a way to build (re-build or reformulate) the image of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area. Starting from the idea that today riverfronts and green and blue infrastructures are an appealing and winning urban regeneration formula, the goal of this research project is to understand what kind of role is called to be played by water. Is the water called to play just the role of building an image that “helps to sell the city”? Is it water the way to build a green, healthy and habitable Lisbon Metropolitan Area? On both sides of the Tagus River, is there a common strategy based on a potential estuarine identity and local authenticity?