Brazilian mayors visit the city's urban transformation
Article
The city's transformation can already be seen from the balcony of the City Hall, but the Brazilian delegation from the National Front of Mayors who visited Porto on Wednesday morning had the opportunity to find out much more about what has been done in terms of urban rehabilitation, housing and socio-economic policies. Representatives from the cities of Palmas, Candeias, Guarulhos, Tugúrio, Niterói, Marília, Goiana and São Luís were welcomed by the mayor and the councillor for Urbanism and Public Spaces and Housing while on their visit to Portugal.
Aware of the importance of sharing experiences, Rui Moreira recalled the correlation between the two countries, in both the positive and the less positive aspects. 'You have asymmetries that we also have, particularly when it comes to city management', he said.
The mayor mentioned how, from 'a strong industrial city' Porto has become 'a city of services', the result of a 'drastic change that has had a huge impact'.
Rui Moreira believes that, for the transformation we are seeing today, 'we were lucky enough to have tourism, which provided jobs for many people and had a huge impact in terms of income'.
In order to meet demand, the mayor emphasised the need to invest in infrastructure, 'which is fundamental', and also to 'adapt the city so that our residents enjoy tourism'.
Another important aspect of the city's management, 'which you are also aware of', says Rui Moreira, 'has been housing construction'. 'If we can't offset the cost of housing, people will move away', he says.
This has been a very interesting time, in which the city has changed a lot in a short period of time, both in terms of its urban and economic matrix.’
On behalf of the mayors present, who expressed their 'congratulations on the city's great transformation', the mayor of Guarulhos recognised that 'we have witnessed the transformation that Portugal has experienced, with a completely different reality from the time of the 2008 economic crisis'.
'That's what we're hoping for: a recovery in Brazil so that we can have the same success', Guti Costa admitted.
Still at the City Hall, the councillor for Urbanism and Public Spaces and Housing took the opportunity to explain to the Brazilian delegation the developments in urban planning and the revitalisation of public space that Porto has seen.
In the words of Pedro Baganha, 'this has been a very interesting time, in which the city has changed a lot in a short period of time, both in terms of its urban and economic matrix. It's been a huge transformation and it's challenging'.
From the explanation to the sites, the councillor took the Brazilian mayors to the redevelopment projects of the D. João I Block and Mercado do Bolhão. From there, they went to the Porto Innovation Hub to learn about the city's innovation strategy.
The National Front of Mayors represents more than 400 municipalities in Brazil and visited several Portuguese cities as part of a partnership with the Brazil-Europe Integration Forum.