The principal aim of SustainLis is to investigate the effects of housing and urban requalification policies and practices on citizens with high levels of vulnerability, that is, young adults, seniors, and immigrants living in the historic centre of Lisbon. This project highlights the relevance of a territorial approach to the study of such effects on vulnerable populations. Within a society highly polarized by economic and political inequality, and by processes of deregulation, liberalization, and state retrenchment, SustainLis aims to develop innovative and locality-sensitive responses to policy development and adaptation. In doing so, the project will contribute to theoretical progress in housing and urban policy research and at the same time provide practical knowledge that might inform policy-making so as to reduce inequality and promote social sustainability. This will be achieved, on the one hand, by providing empirical evidence on the housing conditions, trajectories, needs, and preferences of vulnerable citizens living in the city centre and, on the other, by providing policy recommendations to lessen socio-economic and spatial inequality and create healthier, habitable, and inclusive spaces. SustainLis has assembled a multidisciplinary team combining social science with urban and housing policy expertise. This mix should facilitate the process of policy evaluation, in the effort to provide innovative policy recommendations to create more efficient and effective forms of rent control and stimulus to housing requalification with the provision of new affordable housing to low-income and medium-income households, eventually facilitating mixed-housing tenure and the rejuvenation of the historic centre. The researchers will work closely with local stakeholders, policy-makers, and practitioners to gather and generate data to articulate the specific challenges facing vulnerable populations living in the historic centre of Lisbon. They will then evaluate their findings using an iterative process that combines empirical data with inclusive models of housing and urban policy. These outputs will be the basis to predict possible alternative futures using time-space simulation methods and techniques. The project will also be developed from a comparative and international perspective as the team members have previously developed research in other national and international environments, and intend to maintain and reinforce cooperation with high-quality international research centres such as the Danish Building Research Institute, the Centre for Demographic Studies of the Autonomous University of Barcelona, and the Cambridge Centre for Housing and Planning Research.

Coord.: Sónia Alves

Alda Azevedo, Pedro Moura Ferreira, Rosa Branco