The enduring urbanization of poverty in the Lisbon metropolitan area

Evidence from a community-based socioeconomic and housing survey

Abstract

The Lisbon Metropolitan Area (LMA) stands out as one of the most unequal regions in Portugal, where persistent and worsening phenomena of poverty, precarious housing, and social exclusion have been observed. This article presents the results of a socio-residential survey designed, implemented, and analyzed in collaboration with local organizations in three disadvantaged neighborhoods in the municipality of Loures: the municipal neighborhood of Quinta da Fonte and the precarious self-built neighborhoods of Talude Militar and Montemor. The adoption of a participatory methodology allowed for the production of situated knowledge about its inhabitants and the various dimensions of vulnerability –socioeconomic, housing, and institutional– that affect them. The paper concludes by emphasizing the urgent need for fairer urban policies that are closely aligned with local communities, actively involving them in both the diagnostic process and the development of responses to the identified challenges.