WELTSTADT

© A Linha

Written by Julia Albani, co-curator We-Traders Lisbon

In the urban vocabulary of Lisbon, slogans like “Together we make a city,” “The town is in you” and even “You are the city” are just as obvious today as the alarmingly high number of vacant dwellings (around 50,000) and the skyrocketing unemployment rate (around 18%) that hovers above the national average. With its proclaimed appreciation of civil society initiatives in city development, the city administration has recently energetically engaged in the fight against the direct impact of the financial crisis. Rising unemployment and lack of opportunities, an empty treasury, vacancies and housing shortages and the urgent need to break down red tape make it fertile ground for co-determination and participation.

BIP/ZIP, an exemplary We-Trader project, is a non-bureaucratic micro- and short-term fund for micro-projects in the most affected districts. For three years it has been promoting initiatives such as the exemplary neighborhood kitchen Cozinha Popular da Mouraria and the project A Linha (The Line), a color-based signage for playful movement and revitalization of the neighborhood of Alfama. This paradigm shift is, however, not only promoted by the central city council, but can also be seen in the cityscape and numerous budding initiatives, most of which are of low-cost and voluntary nature. A sense of collectivity, participation, social justice and transparency are the hallmarks of these players who, in spite of unemployment and no public contract as urban protagonists, are looking for creative solutions, often arising from existential and social need. In the crisis-ridden everyday, projects such as the critical wall newspaper O Espelho (The Mirror) or the program to identify and reduce urban vacancies Agulha num Palheiro (Needle in a haystack) send signals that, based on new values and exchanges, re-evaluate self-directed, self-responsible action for the city (and with the city) in urgent expertise.