Social housing estates in urban Oporto: 1901-1956

Abstract

Rapid population growth in Oporto in the second half of the nineteenth century intensified the housing problems for less well-off families, especially the families of factory workers. The large demand for housing led to the emergence of a style of construction generally known as «ilhas» (islands). At the end of the century, public dismay grew at the insalubrious and insecure living conditions of the lower classes, and this resulted in part in initiatives to build housing estates for the working class with better sanitary conditions. The first such developments in Oporto were philanthropic in origin (such as the Bairros do Comércio do Porto). These were followed over the years by municipal initiatives (the «workers' colonies») and by state-run developments (the «economical housing estates» of the New State). Our paper seeks to characterise these developments, in order to arrive at a better understanding of working class housing in Oporto at the end of the nineteenth century and in the first half of the present century.