Continuar a Viver. Os bairros SAAL da Meia Praia: permanência e conflito num território turistificado

Abstract

SAAL (Mobile Local Support Service) was a transformative initiative in the landscape of housing policy in Portugal, emerging during a period of profound social and political change following the April 1974 Revolution. Aimed at providing a direct response to the housing needs of the most disadvantaged social groups, the process was founded on an unprecedented combination of community organisation and technical intervention, relying on the active participation of the population and the mobilisation of interdisciplinary brigades. Located between the sea and the Meia Praia beach, the 25 de Abril and 1º de Maio neighbourhoods, built in this context, remain as material and symbolic testimonies of this exceptional experience. Conceived according to the principles of incremental housing and partial self-construction as a financing solution, these projects reflect an approach resembling, in many respects, the programme's founding decree. Over the decades, however, these experiences have been progressively marginalised by an urban development model geared towards private investment and the ongoing touristification of the territory. The lack of clarity regarding land ownership, combined with the erosion of institutional support, has created a scenario of vulnerability and structural subalternity. It is within this context that the present research is situated, focusing on the critical analysis of the Meia Praia neighbourhoods in the light of the SAAL's history and the realities of contemporary urbanism. Through the study of built forms, field observation, documentary analysis and direct engagement with locals, the research seeks to understand the continuities and reconfigurations of the SAAL process, as well as the threats that currently place it at risk. The dissertation is organised into three parts. The first examines the potential of SAAL as an instrument of direct action and social and spatial experimentation, with particular attention to the case of the Algarve. The second part analyses the 25 de Abril and 1º de Maio neighbourhoods, focusing on their spatial integration into the site, the adoption of the incremental housing system and the choice of single-family housing in a context of seeking new forms of collective living. The third part reflects on the transformations that have taken place over the last five decades, identifying the impacts and consequences of the Meia Praia Urbanisation Plan. In a concluding section, proposals are discussed that aim to adress the persistent housing needs in these neighbourhoods, with emphasis on urban rehabilitation with technical assistance, the legal recognition of communities and the role of local authorities in ensuring the right to the city. More than a nostalgic evocation, this reflection seeks to rethink the contemporary relevance of SAAL as a political and urbanistic practice, questioning the relations between the collective and the individual, and between architecture, spatial justice and social organisation.