How did Parque Verde come to be?

Parque Verde in Coimbra is one of 37 urban rehabilitation projects undertaken within the POLIS program. The POLIS program, launched in March 2000, is a national urban renewal and environmental upgrading program. With Viver as Cidades (to live the city) as a motto, the program is one of the largest national efforts in Europe to modernize the national urban system. It aims to reinvent cities as engines of regional development by rehabilitating urban areas by renovating heritage buildings and by enhancing public areas in centers of cities, while valuing local identity and addressing specific needs of each city.

Background on the POLIS program
The POLIS program sought apply at a national level an integrated method of urban renewal that successfully transformed the riverfront at Parque des Nações in Lisbon and to replicate this model of city-river relationship in 17 of the 37 beneficiary cities. Parque de Naçoes was constructed as part of the 1998 World Exposition in Lisbon, and the riverfront project incorporated Rio Tejo (Tagus River) in innovative ways that allow close interaction between urban fabric, the people and the river.




























Photo Credit: Wikipedia entry "Parque das Nações"

The vision of the city under the POLIS project is one that is a lively, attractive place to live, work and play, providing spaces for relationships and individual privacy, and creativity, with a unique identity that altogether makes it a highly competitive European and global city.

Further, the city is envisioned as a space of citizenship. Although it is a national program, each project was realized through partnerships with local municipalities, and local residents and stakeholders were claimed to have participated at unprecedented levels. The word “polis” traces its etymology to the ancient Greek word polis which means city, city-state, or citizenship; the program’s name implies that the city is not only a territorial entity, but calls for participatory and democratic governance and policy-making. Each project in the POLIS program worked with Local Monitoring Committees and followed a comprehensive local communication plan to interact with local stakeholders. To solicit public discussion and input on detailed plans, the POLIS program held an exhibition at Pavilhão de Portugal in Lisbon (designed by the renowned architect Alvaro Siza Vieira).









































Photo Credits: ParqueExpo'98

The social dimension of river rehabilitation is of great interest to me as a planner. In urban areas, such projects need social acceptance at the very least, and active participation of local stakeholders can help projects thrive in many ways. Locally appropriate design can increase the usability of and access to such spaces. While designers gain an understanding of local particularities that may influence their design, participating in design and planning processes present learning opportunities for local stakeholders. Through hands-on involvement, local participants learn about hydrologic, social, and political processes that affect river rehabilitation projects. They are also likely to build networks with fellow residents through working together. Perhaps most critical is the shared sense of ownership that local residents develop. Only if they feel they OWN the project, would they participate in the maintenance and ensure the long-term sustainability of the project.

As I spoke to local stakeholders about the Parque Verde project in Coimbra, it became more apparent to what extent the public participation process succeeded in incorporating specific local needs in the project.

A brief analysis of sentences used in the Institutional Model, Plans, Communication and Environmental Awareness book published by the program revealed the extent of local participation the program aimed for. The two main goals of the exhibition, for example, were to:

“…make the public aware of the major role played by the POLIS program in reinforcing and consolidating… a balanced urban system for Portuguese cities”

and

“…inform the public on the measures that were implemented at all levels, including measures that have already materialized into specific construction projects and measures which have rather focused on surveys and the production of planning documents that constitute a legacy of land management instruments to promote further urban and environmental management interventions, and to thereby enhance the attractiveness and competitiveness of various urban centers, according to the POLIS program orientations.” (emphasis added by author)

Other sentences used to express the aims of the communication and environmental awareness segment of the POLIS program suggested that public participation was limited to:
- Informing (e.g. “advising [residents] on interventions,” “briefing on progress to date,” “keeping residents abreast”),
- Generating interest (e.g. “promoting public participation,” “fostering interest in urban environmental protection”) and
- Obtaining buy-in (e.g. “obtaining their commitment”).

As we can see from the above, communication tended to be one-way and consultative, on Sherry Arnstein’s Ladder of Citizen Participation. It was difficult to understand from the POLIS publications, specifically how and which local stakeholders or inputs were incorporated into a project. This is not surprising, considering a few Portuguese I have spoken with warned me that the idea of participation may not be as widespread or of the norm in Portugal as it may be in the US - NOT to say this is "good" or "bad."

While the project may have involved local stakeholders to an extent necessary to gain their acceptance, it remains to be seen whether the sense of long-term stewardship of the project will be developed. Admittedly, it is not possible for me (within the scope of this project) to retrace the process of planning and deliberation from the beginning, I was able to glean from my interviews areas of the project where local needs may not have been sufficiently taken into consideration or incorporated into the process.