Paper short abstract:

Is the concept of neighbourhood still essential in the 21st century urban context? Which aspects are crucial for the residents to consider their urban area as a neighbourhood? Is the point of view from the ‘old residents’ different from the ‘new gentrification’ ones? Is the concept itself part of emerging residential patterns?

Paper long abstract:

An urban neighbourhood is an architectural reality, with an historical and urban component, but it is also a space defined by social practices and cultural representations. The classification of a neighbourhood as such implies the recognition by the inhabitants of some level of heterogeneity within the more or less apparent urban homogeneity.

The concept of neighbourhood assumes different levels of representation: historical, social, architectural and functional. In this context, a key issue is the analysis of how these representations interfere with the choices of old and new residents on their houses' location and typology.

The paper presents the first results from the study 'Lisbon neighbourhoods ('bairros') 2012', held by CEACT/UAL. The research focused on the reasons why, in a city with a complex urban shape, some areas are considered, by their inhabitants, as 'bairros', and some aren't, establishes a typological proposal for the existing 'bairros' and analyses the role of these neighbourhoods in present residential choices.