Redevelopment of the Marechal Humberto Delgado Square

1. General information

Location and description of the intervention

City or FUA

Lisboa (FUA)

Region

Europe

Native title of the NBS intervention

Requalificação da Praça Marechal Humberto Delgado

Short description of the intervention

The renovation of the "Marechal Humberto Delgado" Square focused on transforming the area into a more pedestrian-friendly and sustainable urban space. The project included reorganising the traffic system, creating a new urban green square, requalifying the bus terminal, enhancing the integration of different transport modes and improving pedestrian access (Ref 1). Key features of the intervention were the introduction of cycle paths, wider sidewalks, green spaces with 200 new trees, and recreational facilities such as a children's playground and water features (Ref 2). The project also addressed critical infrastructural needs, including constructing a rainwater collector as part of Lisbon's General Drainage Plan to mitigate the city's frequent flooding issues (Ref 3). The renovation, completed in 2024, was part of the 'A Square in Every Neighborhood' program, emphasizing community involvement and sustainable urban development (Ref 3).

Website of the intervention

https://informacoeseservicos.lisboa.pt/servicos/informacao-de-obras/praca-marec…

Principal problems

Climate-Related Hazards

Urban flooding (stormwater)

Heat stress & Extreme temperatures

Health, Well-being and Social cohesion

Insecurity in public spaces

Implementation area characterization

Climate

Temperate ( Humid subtropical, Hot-summer Mediterranean, Warm-summer Mediterranean, Warm-temperate with dry winter)

Ecosystem

Urban or built environment

Address

Praça Marechal Humberto Delgado
1500-423 Lisbon
Portugal

Location

The NBS is situated in an area, with clear delineation of boundaries and a specific shape (polygon). The NBS project can also have more than one area location (more than one polygon, situated close by).

Area boundary (map-based)

NBS area image

Source of NBS area image

Ref. 4

Total area

152000.00m²

Area description

Urban (main city)

Type of area before implementation of the NBS

Public Greenspace Area

Timeline of intervention

Start date of the intervention (planning process)

2022

Start date of intervention (implementation process)

2022

End date of the intervention

2024

Present stage of the intervention

Completed

2. Objectives of the intervention

Objectives of the intervention

Goals of the intervention

1. Integrating road infrastructure by incorporating the road viaduct into the urban fabric (Ref 1).
2. Prioritize public transport, cyclists, and pedestrians through improved traffic systems and cycle paths (Ref 1, Ref 2).
3. Develop a new, pedestrian-friendly urban square (Ref 1, Ref 3).
4. Increase greenery with around 200 new trees (Ref 2, Ref 3).
5. Improving Pedestrian Access (Ref 1, Ref 3).
6. Maximize non-sealed areas and enhance public lighting (Ref 1).
7. Build a rainwater collector to reduce flooding risks (Ref 2, Ref 3).
8. Provide several recreation and leisure spaces (Ref. 3).
9. Promote the use and enjoyment of public spaces by the community, encouraging their collective use and contributing to developing a culture of social coexistence in public spaces (Ref. 4)

Key Priorities

Climate action (adaptation and/or mitigation)

Social Justice and community

Sustainability challenge(s) addressed

Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)

Climate change adaptation

Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)

Green space creation and/or management

Regeneration, land-use and urban development

Promote natural styles of landscape design for urban development

Water management (SDG 6)

Flood protection

Stormwater and rainfall management and storage

Health and well-being (SDG 3)

Creation of opportunities for recreation

Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)

Social cohesion

Social interaction

Climate change adaptation: What activities are implemented to realize the conservation goals and targets?

Increase urban vegetation cover to reduce urban heat island effect

Implement sustainable urban drainage schemes to manage stormwater

Implementation activities and NBS focus

Implementation activities

1. Bus Terminal Upgrade: Improved functionality and integration with other transport modes (Ref 1).
2. Traffic Reorganization: Added bus lanes and enhanced pedestrian crossings for safety (Ref 1).
3. Cycle Paths: Introduced new cycle paths and a shared bike station (Ref 1, Ref 2, Ref 3).
4. Pedestrian Route Improvements: Shortened and upgraded pedestrian paths (Ref 1).
5. Green Space Expansion: Planted around 200 trees and increased green areas (Ref 2, Ref 3).
6. Recreational Facilities: Added a playground and water features (Ref 2, Ref 3).
7. Non-Sealed Areas: Increased permeable surfaces to reduce runoff (Ref 1).
8. Public Lighting: Installed a coherent lighting system for safety (Ref 1).
9. Rainwater Collector: Built to reduce flooding risks (Ref 2, Ref 3).
10. Stakeholder participation: Residents of the parish made contributions to the project, with the active promotion of clarification and suggestion sessions with residents organised by the municipality (Ref. 3).
The project improves pedestrian safety and accessibility by reorganizing traffic, adding cycle paths, and shortening pedestrian routes, while also enhancing environmental sustainability (Ref. 1-4)

Type of NBS project

Creation of new green areas

Creation of any other green urban spaces

3. NBS domains, ES and scale

NBS domain and interventions

Ecological domain(s) where the NBS intervention(s) is/are implemented

Green areas for water management

Other

Grey infrastructure featuring greens

Alley or street trees and other street vegetation

Parks and urban forests

Pocket parks/neighbourhood green spaces

Please specify "other green areas for water management"

Unclear what was the exact sustainable urban drainage system implemented, but it is implied that involved large water tanks and piping.

Amenities offered by the NBS

Benches and drinking water stations

Playgrounds

Other

Please specify other amenities offered by the NBS

New light infrastructure, water fountains and biking trails (Ref. 3, 4)

Design elements for well-being

None of the above

Services

Expected ecosystem services delivered

Regulating services

Flood regulation

Cultural services

Recreation

Social and community interactions

Scale

Spatial scale

Sub-microscale: Street scale (including buildings)

Beneficiaries

Demographics in implementation area

Area surrounding the square( 500 m):
• Area: 2.5 km2
• Resident population: 9,300
• Population density: 3,737.2 inhabitants/km2
• Average family size: 2.15
• Jobs (calculation): 11,500 (Ref. 4)

Socio-economic profile of the area

Mixed income

Communities vulnerable to environmental hazards or climate change impacts

Unknown

Primary Beneficiaries

Local government/Municipality

Citizens or community groups

Specify primary beneficiaries

The government benefits through the improvement of urban infrastructure and flood mitigation, aligning with broader environmental and sustainability goals (Ref 1, Ref 2). Citizens, particularly local residents and public transport users benefit from enhanced pedestrian safety, expanded green spaces, and new recreational amenities, improving their quality of life (Ref 2, Ref 3).

Marginalized groups

Unknown

Other beneficiaries

City infrastructure (e.g., reduced flooding, improved water quality)

4. Governance and financing

Governance

Governance arrangements

Government-led

Please specify the roles of the specific government and non-government actor groups involved in the initiative

Lisbon City Council (CML): Led the project, overseeing planning, funding, and implementation, including infrastructure improvements and green space expansion (Ref 1, Ref 2).
São Domingos de Benfica Parish Council: Participated in project planning and engaged with local residents through information sessions, contributing to design adjustments based on community feedback (Ref 3).
Mayor of Lisbon (Carlos Moedas): Advocated for the project and highlighted its importance for urban sustainability and climate adaptation (Ref 3).

Key actors - initiating organization

Local government/municipality

Key actors - Other stakeholders involved (besides initiating actors)

District/neighbourhood association

Citizens or community group

Stages of citizen and community engagement

Planning and design (e.g. site selection, identification of key priorities)

Development of project proposal

Feedback during project implementation (e.g. review sessions)

Level of citizen and community engagement

High

Community empowerment or capacity-building initiatives

Unknwon

Participatory methods/forms of stakeholder involvement (all stakeholders)

Co-planning (e.g. stakeholder workshops, focus groups, participatory mapping)

Deliberative decision-making processes (e.g., consensus building, deliberative polling)

Consultation (e.g. workshop, surveys, community meetings, town halls)

Uncommon actors ("Missing actors")

Unknown

Land owners

Public space owned by the city

Policy drivers

NBS intervention implemented in response to a Regional Directive/Strategy

Unknown

NBS intervention implemented in response to a national regulations/strategy/plan

NBS intervention implemented in response to a local regulation/strategy/plan

Yes

Please specify the "local regulation/strategy/plan"

The installed drainage infrastructure is part of Lisbon's General Drainage Plan. (Ref 2)

Relevant strategy or plan

Water regulation strategy

Mandatory or voluntary intervention

Mandatory (based on policy)

Intervention is mandatory

Spatial planning guidance

Enablers & Barriers

Type of enablers

Technological innovations

Change agents (individual with major role influence on launching)

Funds, subsidies or investment for GI/NBS in the city (available for the city or provided by the city)

Please provide details (e.g, name of the plan or strategy) for the selected policies or initiatives.

The Mayor of Lisbon (Carlos Moedas) had a critical role in advocating for the project and highlighted its importance for urban sustainability and climate adaptation (Ref 3). Lisbon's General Drainage Plan provided the basis for the technical innovation with the water storage system (Ref 2)

Governace and decison-making instruments

Strategic instruments (e.g. GI strategies, green space strategy or plans)

Public - community agreement (e.g. citizen science programs; citizen assemblies)

Arrangements for governance cooperation

Formal coordination mechanisms to oversee project implementation and decision-making (e.g., multi-stakeholder steering committees, working groups)

Information-sharing platforms or networks (e.g. websites for sharing best practices, data or resources pertinent to the project)

Barriers

Unknown

Financing

Total cost

More than €4,000,000

Please specify total cost (EUR)

8.5 Million (EUR) (Ref. 3)

What is/was the Cost/Budget (EUR) of the NBS or green infrastructure elements?

Unknown

Source(s) of funding

Public local authority budget

Type of fund(s) used

Earmarked public budget

Non-financial contribution

Unknown

Co-finance for NBS

Entrepreneurship opportunities

Business models

Risk reduction model

Green densification model

Which of the involved actors was motivated by this model?

Public actor (e.g. municipality)

5. Evaluation and learning

Impacts, benefits

Environmental impacts

Climate change

Strengthened capacity to address climate hazards/natural disasters

Expected strengthened capacity to address climate hazards/natural disasters

Water management and blue areas

Increased protection against flooding

Expected increased protection against flooding

Green space and habitat

Increased green space area

Achieved increased green space area

Description of environmental benefits

- Strengthened capacity to address climate hazards/natural disasters; Increased protection against flooding: “This is part of a major project that is so important for the city, the General Drainage Plan for Lisbon. We experience floods every year and, with this work, we will no longer have these effects” (Ref 3)
- Increased green space area: "There are also new green areas, with around 200 trees being planted" (Ref3)

Environmental impact indicators

Total number of vascular plant species protected or introduced

200

Economic impacts

Unknown

Description of economic benefits

Unknown

Evidence for use of assessment

Presence of an assessment, evaluation and/or monitoring process

Unknown

Presence of indicators used in reporting

No evidence in public records

Presence of monitoring/evaluation reports

No evidence in public records

Availability of a web-based monitoring tool

No evidence in public records

Name of any specific impact assessment tools

Unknown

Use of GIS in mapping impacts

No evidence in public records

Cost-benefit analysis

Unknown

Transparency

Meetings with stakeholders’ representatives

Inclusion of diverse stakeholders in project governance processes (e.g. planning, implementation, monitoring, etc.)

Public disclosure of project funding sources and/or budgets

Justice

Community satisfaction

Unknown

Description of locals satisfaction with the project

Unknown, the project implementation was completed very recently in June 2024.

Trade-offs & Negative impacts

Unknown

Measures to prevent gentrification or displacement

Unknown

High-quality & Transformative NBS

Multiple impacts delivery (climate, biodiversity, just community)

Yes

Goal setting and impacts delivery

No, although benefits were delivered in all the 3 key areas, but in the planning phase, the project did not aim to address issues in all the 3 key priority areas.

Reaching original project goals

Most of the project goals were achieved

Long-term perspective

Unknown: No information about the project's long-term sustainability.

Cost-effective solutions

Unknown

Equitable impacts

C. Unknown

Transformative capacity

Unknown

Magnitude of change

Unknown

Application of lessons learned

Unknown

Perception of Environmental Change

Unknown

6. Sources

References

Lisbon Municipality (n.d.). MARSHAL HUMBERTO DELGADO SQUARE (SETE RIOS). Accessed on August 16, 2024, [Source link] [Archive];

Lisbon Municipality (2024). sete-rios-square-has-more-space-to-walk-around-information-lisbon_0.pdf. Accessed on August 16, 2024, [Source link] [Archive];

Olhares (2024). Praça Marechal Humberto Delgado com mais espaço para os peões. Accessed on August 16, 2024, [Source link] [Archive];

Lisbon Municipality (2015). Requalificação do Espaço Público Praça Marechal Humberto Delgado – Sete Rios. Accessed on August 16, 2024, [Source link] [Archive];

Lisbon Municipality (n.d.). NOVA PRAÇA MARECHAL HUMBERTO DELGADO. Accessed on August 16, 2024, [Source link] [Archive];

Comments and notes

Public Images