Studies on new residential forms in Lisbon and Porto

The responsibility for sharing the management of common spaces until the 1980s in the city of Lisbon and Porto was practically limited to the management of cleanliness, since the vast majority of horizontally owned buildings were hardly able to reach the two dozen homes in a set in which all the neighbors knew each other completely.

The concept of neighborhood, maybe narrower, belonging to the X street, was rooted in the growth of new generations by the contact and play in the streets and the existence of a local commerce that was loyal to proximity and personal knowledge. 

The dynamics of current reality have naturally transformed these situations into history, but our memory has recorded the positive aspects that derive from the ease of obtaining experiences and emotions from this small dimension of urban organization.

Cities have developed and horizontal property has grown, both in size and organization!

The vertical increase of the buildings brought comfort but also additional needs of management and ignorance of the neighbor. The residential concepts evolved and the equipment and spaces increased with the size of the condominiums.

Privacy and security have introduced new residential forms and many developments have included urbanistic equipment, traditionally public, such as gardens and streets, in private spaces. However, the current rhythm of life does not facilitate the interaction and proximity of these communities.

The dimension, the rhythm of life and security are thus factors determining the quality of the nostalgic experience of the residential urbanization of the 60s and 70s.

This subject has been studied in several parts of the world as evidenced by the immense scientific publication available *.

Livingroop has, in his genesis, the concern to offer the tools that allow the minimization of questions related with the resistances to better experiences and emotions of the residential relations in the new forms of urban housing organizations. 

* In Lisbon some research work was carried out in schools such as ISEG and ISCTE. On the internet it is also possible to access the national and international documentation on the subject.