Reabilitar o Centro Histórico: da Estratégia à Realidade Urbana. Análise crítica dos quarteirões-piloto e reflexões europeias de regeneração

Abstract

This dissertation critically examines the urban regeneration processes led by Porto Vivo, SRU, in Porto's Historic Centre, with particular focus on the "pilot blocks" defined in the Urban Rehabilitation Plan, in 2005. The selected blocks (Carlos Alberto, D. João I, Cardosas and Infante) are analyzed as experimental units of regeneration strategy aimed at combining heritage enhancement with economic revitalization and socio-environmental sustainability. The research integrates morphological, functional, and socio-economic analyses of these blocks over the past two decades, using strategic documentation, fieldwork, statistical data and local testimonies. In parallel, a set of international reference cases is examined not as direct comparisons, but as critical collection of contemporary approaches to sustainable urban regeneration. The dissertation offers a cross-reading of past and present, territory and policy, institutional discourse and concrete impacts, seeking to understand to what extent the Porto pilot blocks achieved their intended objectives. Through the observation of European practices from the same period as well as more recent ones, the study identifies relevant trends and strategies that could inform future urban interventions in Porto's Historic Centre, particularly regarding citizen participation, social justice and urban sustainability.