O CRESCIMENTO DA MOBILIDADE E TURISMO EM PORTUGAL SOLUÇÃO OU PROBLEMA? O CASO DO NOVO AEROPORTO DE LISBOA

Abstract

MOBILITY AND TOURISM GROWTH IN PORTUGAL: SOLUTION OR PROBLEM? THE CASE OF THE NEW LISBON AIRPORT. This essay challenges contemporary Portuguese policies aimed at promoting tourism growth and the development of large transport infrastructures that make continuous economic growth possible. It considers the new Lisbon airport as an example. It uses a hypothetic-deductive methodological approach based on the concept of immotility to deliver its argument. Immotility is defined as the possibility of not travelling as a common good to be endorsed by public policies. The essay begins by demonstrating that – even though they are associated with important economic benefits – policies aimed at promoting intensive tourism and mobility are problematic in terms of sustainability, well-being and resilience. After this, the essay argues that the Portuguese debate about tourism and mobility is undemocratic as possible alternatives are being excluded without the necessary collective reflection and approval. It is therefore considered urgent to open an inclusive large-scale debate about which future Portuguese society wants to pursue, while explicitly addressing which accessibilities, skills, symbolic meanings, and material conditions should be promoted.