Public investment policies in land transport over the last 50 years have contributed to an unsustainable territorial organization model with high socio-economic and environmental impacts, some of which will be very difficult to reverse in the medium term.
Eurostat data for 2020 shows that Portugal has the third largest number of freeways per capita in the EU27. While in 1986, the year Portugal joined the then EEC, it had one of the lowest number of freeways among European countries, with around 200 km, since then the network has grown rapidly. By the year 2000, the density of the network had already surpassed that of countries like Germany and the Netherlands, for example, and reached its peak in 2014 with 3065 kms. Portugal is still the only country in continental Europe with a freeway network larger than the rail network.
But what impact has all this investment had on the territory?
Researchers from the TiTuSS project - Economic, Social and Environmental Impacts of the Expansion of the Transport Network and its Effects on the Urban System - coordinated by the Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão (ISEG) and the Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), analyzed the territorial impacts of freeways in Portugal.
Find out about the main results of the project funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) at a seminar which will take place at Urban Information Center of Lisbon (CIUL), on September 21st, at 14.30.
The seminar will discuss and reflect on the role of the transport system in the territorial sustainability of the economic development model, and will also feature presentations by other speakers who will talk about the dynamics of urban expansion in the AML and the role of transport policies.
Free session, subject to pre-registration HERE.
For more information on the project:
Patrícia Melo: pmelo@iseg.ulisboa.pt
Bruno Rocha: brunorocha@iseg.ulisboa.pt
João de Abreu e Silva: jabreu@tecnico.ulisboa.pt
For more information on the seminar: https://seminariotituss.weebly.com/
Poster (pdf)