The proposal was approved with the support of most municipal groups and the abstention of non-affiliated deputy Margarida Penedo, following unanimous approval by the chamber in April.
Put forward by the Urban Planning Councilor, Joana Almeida, the proposal designates a municipal plot of 9,000 square meters for the construction of the new Lisbon Municipal Archive and Newspaper Library, allowing for a building up to 10 floors high with a construction area of 20,000 square meters.
The Municipal Archive and Newspaper Library are “long-awaited facilities,” noted Joana Almeida, highlighting that current facilities are inadequate and dispersed across various city buildings.
The construction of the new Municipal Archive in Calvanas aims to “strengthen and expand an academic and cultural hub already home to several higher education institutions, the National Library, and the National Archive of the Torre do Tombo.”
In the presented proposal, Almeida emphasized the long-standing need for the centralization and relocation of the various branches of the Lisbon Municipal Archive, currently scattered throughout the city (Historical and Administrative Archive—Campolide; Photographic Archive—Rua da Palma; Videotheque—Largo do Calvário; Back-Up Depot—Alto da Eira), which incurs financial costs and management difficulties, as well as the Municipal Newspaper Library, which is in provisional and inadequate facilities.
On May 27, Economy and Innovation Councilor Diogo Moura announced that the Lisbon City Council has launched an international architectural ideas competition for the new Municipal Archive, to be built in the Campo Grande area.
During this session of the Lisbon Municipal Assembly, a proposal to designate the Urban Rehabilitation Area (ARU) of Vale de Chelas was also approved, despite opposition from the BE and abstention by PAN and the two independent deputies from Citizens for Lisbon.
According to the Urban Planning Councilor, creating the ARU of Vale de Chelas will allow for an integrated intervention of urban and environmental rehabilitation and regeneration in this territory, covering approximately 194 hectares across the parishes of Areeiro, Beato, Marvila, and Penha de França.
“With this new centrality, enhanced by the construction of the new Hospital de Todos os Santos and the third crossing over the Tagus,” the council plans the construction of 2,000 new homes and the creation of a large green park, around 60 hectares, which will be the new green lung of the city.
Almeida emphasized the objective of environmental requalification and quality of life improvement “in a currently forgotten and fragmented territory.”
This proposal for creating the ARU of Vale de Chelas was approved by the chamber in April, with votes against from Citizens for Lisbon and BE, abstention from Livre, and in favor from PSD/CDS-PP, PS, and PCP.
In the 2021-2025 term, there are 13 municipal groups in the Lisbon Municipal Assembly: PS (26 deputies), PSD (17), CDS-PP (six), PCP (five), BE (four), IL (three), Chega (three), PEV (two), PAN (one), Livre (one), PPM (one), MPT (one), and Aliança (one), two independent deputies from the Citizens for Lisbon movement, and two non-affiliated deputies, for a total of 75 elected representatives.
