CASE STUDY: The Mobility Program as the link element of the interventions of Porto 2001 for the Baixa District

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SECTOR: Transport

COUNTRY: Portugal

STATEMENT ON SUSTAINABILITY
One of the most usual problems in historic centres of European cities is the lack of quality of the urban spaces, mostly because the excessive presence of individual means of transport. The urban requalification made in Opporto in the ambit of “European capital of culture”, show us how a mobility program can be understoot as a frame to the restructuring of public space.

BACKGROUND
After the designation of Porto as the “European Capital of Culture 2001”, the “Society of Porto 2001” is set up as its generic objectives are: Cultural Programation and Urban Requalification. The program of Urban Requalification came up from the analysis of a reality with dysfunctions at the level of public space – streets , plazas, avenues – which affected the mobility of people and contributed to the degradation and loss of competivity of economical activities, diminishing of dwelling and even to the cultural decline of downtown.

The “Program of Urban Requalification for the Baixa District” presents five purposes: the requalification of public space, the requalification of the buildings, the economic revitalisaion, the requalification of dwellings and the improvement of mobility. To give a better answer to this last goal, it was developed the “Program of Mobility for the Baixa District of Porto”, which principle objectives are: improving the environmental condition of the Baixa, maintaining the current level of parking availability (discouraging off-street parking lot for underground parking garages instead, improving the conditions of public road transport and its relationship to individual car transportation in the city centre, articulating an inter-modal transportation network (in an effort to gain improved mobility in the city centre), resolution of the loading and unloading operations problems and developing information systems networks for improved public transportation, efficiency and on time coordination with other modes of transportation and departures.

The program of requalification of Oporto Baixa district has five areas of intervention: East A (Batalha/Guindais), East B (Praca D Joao I/ Sta Catarina), West A (Restauracao/Cordoaria), West B (Praca de Carlos Alberto/Rua do Almada) and Central Zone. The project teams developed their proposals facing the rearrangement of traffic as public space politics: keeping the vertical plans – buildings – and reorganizing the horizontal plan – pavements – based on the reformulation of traffic structure.

The mobility plan comprehends several actions that have been concretised in each one of the proposals, which gave unity to the result: the reintroduction of the electronic tram transport, sharing the public space with the pedestian (in the plazas – Cordoaria, Batalha –or in the most important streets Restauracao, 31 de Janeiro); the expansion of areas of pedestrian circulation (generalised enlargement of the sidewalks/narrowing of the circulation channels); the introduction of dimensions, which base of calculation is the classification of the street layout in regard to its function (circulation path – 2.50 m to 3.10 m; parking – 1.80m to1.90 m; sidewalks – minimum 2.25m); the definitaion of a standard street profile; the construction of underground parking lot in each one of the four area.

INDICATORS
• utilisation levels of the different circulation channels in different times
• variation of the public transportation network (number of lines)
• public transportation frequency of passage
• outside parking offer and urban supply conditions
• commercial business volume variation
• type of commerce variaion (number of stores)

EVALUATION
Due to the structural modification of the distribition of space, it is important to understant which were the changes in:

• the car accessibility
• public means of transport coverage
• density of pedestrians
• use of bicylces

• use of public space by pedestrians (circulation or pause)

• use of commercial spaces

BENCHMARK DATA
There are no references of quantitative objectives in Oporto’s urban requalification program neither in the Oporto Baixa district mobility program.

DRIVERS
Although there were some efforts to attract private sector active participation, the main driver of the intervention was “Sociedade Porto 2001 S.A”. According with foreseen financing, almost all of the actions were fulfilled (or they are in conclusion) although not all Oporto Baixa district was done.

LESSONS LEARNT
Realising that the old system worked in a disorganised way essentially because of excessive space available in circulation channels, mobility was improved reducing that space, and stimulation rationalisation.
The most interesting aspect of this case study is that mobility policy was understood by each of the four intervention proposals as public space qualification policy, working as a link between them.

APPLICATION
Oporto’s experience is transferable to the historic centre of an European city with specific conditions at urban environment level, facing spatial confining not as a problem, but as work data, rationalising the use of the space and using systematisation as a linking element of diverse spaces.

IMPACT ON SUSTAINABILITY
Although there are not studies about the impaces of Oporto’s urban intervention in Baixa there are some detectable aspects:
ENVIRONMENTAL
At the environmental level, the increase of pedestrian densities, and the car number diminution in Oporto Baixa is consensual, remaining open the quantification of the verified changes.

SOCIAL
The fundamental aspect is the usufruct of pedestrians of a requalified public space, where the private car is not the essential piece of structuring, allowing an experience that increases the relations between different public spaces and can network several of cultural equipments.
Despite the announcement in the Program of Urban Requalification, the requalification of dwellings and buildings in general was not concretised, but there is hope that the requalification of public space stimulates the intervention among the constructed.

ECONOMIC
As it was not fulfilled an effective economic revitalization of the area, the economic impacts are sensed in an indirect and heterogenous way. So, and despite the contestaion of the new street profiles, which came mainly by the “Associaciao de Comerciantes” (who wish to increase the parking lots and did not value the enlargment of the sidewalks), does not exist an uniform scenario: the lack of an objective financial intervention or the excessive lasting of the building site lead to the bankruptcy of some of the stores, on the other hand, new excellence stores came up.

INSTITUTIONAL
The coverage given by the media to the event “Porto 2001 – European Capital of Culture” allowed that the physical component of the intervention was largely divulged and discussed.

PROJECT CONTACT
(“Consultores de Mobilidade Porto 2001”)
- Antonio Perez Babi
- Robert Stussi
Gng.apb – arquitectura e planeamento, Ida
Rua Joao das Regras, 213-1D
4000-293 Porto
tel + 351 222004345
fax + 351 222089474
Email: gng.apb@mail.telepac.pt

- Americo Pires da Costa
- Jose Pedro Tavares
Centro de Transportes – Feup
Rua Dr Roberto Frias – 213 1D
4000-293 Porto

Tel + 351 222004345
Fax + 351 222089474
Email: gng.apb@mail.telepac.pt

REFERENCE
- Programa de Mobilidad para a Baixa do Porto – Consultores de Mobilidade da Porto 2001, Porto 2000.
- Porto 2001. Regresso a Baixa – Consulta para elaboracao do Programa de “Registos de uma Transformacao”, Porto 2001