The Arrival City studio seeks to address the profound implications of mass migration and urbanisation on the lives and well-being of migrants and the global geopolitical landscape. This condition is widely predicted to be exacerbated by a further 200 million climate migrants by 2050.

Located in Lisbon the studio continues to investigate the role of cities in the transition towards a zero carbon economy as cities, through their economies of scale, have the potential to reduce per capita costs and demands for resources. This transition is as much a social and cultural issue as it is a technological challenge. As such the studio at its heart is interested in people, the way we live and interact with natural systems.

During the second half of the twentieth century, Lisbon experienced a housing shortage that led to the formation of informal neighbourhoods around the periphery of the city. Independence for African Portuguese-speaking countries in 1975 resulted in further migratory flows which led to an increase of people living in these precarious settlements. 

Taking Segundo Torrão, a clandestine neighbourhood, home to more than three thousand people and the adjoining settlements Cova do Vapor and Trafaria as our territory of focus projects this year have explored the right to housing, addressing growing urban inequality and the threat of climate emergency.

View projects here

 

Special thanks to everyone we met who were so generous with their time during our time in Lisbon

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