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Italy 
Greece 
Porto City Council Considers Buying 19th Century District
1 November 2017
The mayor of Porto promised that the municipality would “evaluate the possibility” of buying the 19th-century neighbourhood of Cruzinho, which constitutes the last group of workhouses in Campo Alegre, based on a recommendation presented by CDU.
The proposal came from the communist councilwoman Ilda Figueiredo, and was presented at a public meeting and received a green light from Mayor Rui Moreira after the independent suggested altering the original text, as there is no possibility for the local authority to exercise the right of preference of the western district of the city. The neighbourhood dates from 1895 and is the place where the historian Germano Silva resided.
“The neighbourhood is not classified (as of historical interest), and the city council does not have the right to opt-in in that area. Regardless, we can still contact the owners, inquire about their intentions and move forward with individual negotiations,” Rui Moreira stated, who later emphasised the widening of Bom Sucesso street, as planned by the municipality, would be a part of negotiations with the owners.
Soon after the CDU presented the proposal, the new Housing councillor, Fernando Paulo (elected by independents), observed that the acquisition of the Cruzinho neighbourhood “would not be in the interest of the Porto City Council”, that the municipality “cannot can replace “the private sector” and that “only 13 families live” in the neighbourhood of Cruzinho.
Fernando Paulo, who was municipal director of the mayor’s office and president of the municipal housing company during Moreira’s previous administration, noted that the Council has “about 30,000 tenants in 15,000 houses”, so it cannot “represent a particular group of private tenants.”
Fernando Paulo also mentioned the need to question the city councilman for Urban Planning “about whether there is an urban operation in planning ” for the area of Cruzinho neighbourhood, because, he said, “it seems that there may be.”
Urban Planning Councillor Pedro Baganha, also elected by the independent list, assured that there was “no constituted right” concerning the neighbourhood, nor “any act practised” by his predecessors.
For Baganha, the council must “have a property classification policy, instead of interventions on a case-by-case basis” for the current revision of the Municipal Master Plan.
Baganha stated that a reclassification of the Bom Sucesso street is planned in that area of the neighbourhood to solve a traffic bottleneck.
“I think one thing does not contradict another. This can be involved in the negotiations with the owners,” Rui Moreira replied.
According to the mayor, “Bom Sucesso street is a two-way street in the descending part” and, “thus, it was worth evaluating the possibility of widening the street and preserving the neighbourhood.”
In response to Fernando Paulo, CDU councilwoman Ilda Figueiredo noted that “the Cruzinho neighbourhood is not a working-class neighbourhood”, but rather “the only one left in an area that was deeply industrial”, which is why “it is a memory of the city that must be preserved. ”
The communist politician added that the CDU had submitted a concrete proposal for that neighbourhood and at no time suggested that the council has the responsibility to “intervene in all the areas or working-class neighbourhoods in the city.”
PSD councillor Álvaro Almeida said he was not against “evaluating” the possibility of acquiring the Cruzinho neighbourhood, but said it was not “a good policy to be buying property just because there are people who may be evicted.”
Ilda Figueiredo’s original proposal, to which Lusa had access, recommended that the local authority should “take all steps to exercise the right of first refusal in the acquisition of Bairro do Cruzinho and provide for its rehabilitation by keeping the current residents”, and at the same time as providing “new social housing for young couples and students.”
In the document, the councilwoman said that the working district of Campo Alegre street “runs the risk of demolition and there is pressure for the removal (of the residents) of the 13 houses that are still occupied out of the original 48 that existed.”
Original Story: LUSA / Diário Imobiliário
Translation: Richard Turner