Colombian committee visits the city to get to know our urban rehabilitation model

The relevance of the urban qualification model developed by the Municipality of Porto has generated international interest which appears to attest to the success of the intervention model. In 2023, after an Icelandic committee and a researcher from the University of Dundee (Scotland), it was time for the urban planners from Santiago de Cali, Colombia, to travel to Porto in order to learn about the work developed by the autarchy in the requalification of the city’s historical areas.

It was up to the councillor for Urban Planning, Pedro Baganha, to provide, through the presentation made in Paços do Concelho, the context of the architectonic and demographic history of Porto, while dedicating special attention to the period of appreciation that came from its distinction, in 1996, as a World Heritage Site. The presentation focused, particularly, in the existent relation between housing and urban requalification, aspects that the councillor finds to be indissociable, being that many solutions that the autarchy of Porto has tried to implement in all the city have been recalled, promoting the qualification of the buildings and the expansion of the accessible renting supply.

The rehabilitation of the islands was also a matter of curiosity for the visitors. Being that it refers to an Industrial era typology, the challenges that the qualification of these types of building comprise were explained. The 47 wildfires in the islands in Lomba set the tone for the explanation of the requalification foreseen for the islands, as an element for inducing change, which represents an investment superior to eight million euros.

These moments of exchange will continue, as Porto Vivo, SRU will be responsible for promoting visits to the Historic Centre and to explain, in detail, the plan for management and monitoring, as well as to raise awareness to the accessible renting model, highlighting the strategic relevance of increasing the available housing supply, through tenders regularly promoted by the Municipal company.