Construção, densificação, declínio e demolição de uma área urbana em crise: Uma história de desassossego em torno do abandono e das políticas

This article is intended to contribute to the reflection on the dynamics affecting urban areas in crisis and the effects of policies that try to regenerate these areas.
This paper is divided into two parts. The first part is a theoretical introduction about the diversity of urban areas 'at risk' and the factors that explain the decline of these areas. In this analysis are distinguished those which bind predominantly to the internal characteristics of the territories (physical, economic, social and organizational features) from the external ones, associated for example with the negative social representations. Above all, we try to highlight the additional negative effects that arise from the correlation of these two types of disadvantages, emphasizing its ability to create cycles of cumulative disadvantage in some areas. The second part is eminently empirical, focuses on the Neighborhood of “S. João de Deus”. It begins by describing construction and densification processes of the district, which would contribute to a path of social and urban decay that deepens during the 80’s. Then we describe the contradictory and fragmented nature of regeneration strategies that have been directed to the neighborhood in the following decades: the program of construction and redevelopment in the 90’s, as a part of National Program to Combat Poverty, and, one decade after, under the European Program Urban II, the strategy that led to the almost total demolition of the neighborhood. It ends up reflecting on the social and territorial impacts of demolitions.