Municipal programmes Rua Direita and Rede 20 win Spanish 'Cities that Walk' award

24/09/2024

The Municipality of Porto’s approach to public space management has crossed borders and received recognition in Spain. The Rua Direita and Rede 20 programmes won the ‘Portuguese Cities’ category of the ‘Cities that Walk’ award.

The prize, awarded by the Network of Cities and Towns that Walk, of which Porto has been a member since the beginning of the year, aims to recognise the actions put into practice by participating municipalities in terms of road safety, universal accessibility, and the environment.

The Municipality’s focus has been on creating better conditions for accessibility, comfort and safety in soft mobility, with particular emphasis on pedestrian circulation. This is part of an ongoing effort to enhance the use and ownership of public space by residents, adopting innovative, efficient and sustainable measures.

The initiatives cover the entire city, covering 45 kilometres and 326 streets.

The Rua Direita Programme was created to promote the rehabilitation of degraded public spaces within the finer network of the municipal road system, reaching both central and peripheral areas.

The Rede 20 Programme proposes a new regulation of public spaces, prioritising soft mobility, particularly pedestrians, while taking into account the specific logistical needs of commercial and tourist activities and offering solutions for resident-only parking.

The creation of sharing platforms, the widening of pavements with comfortable flooring at the expense of excessive road space, or the restriction of vehicular traffic on certain streets, are part of the strategy that the various programmes implemented by the Municipality of Porto have put into practice, in line with the Porto Climate Pact, which aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030.

The redevelopment solutions that have been implemented aim to promote safe, open, and inviting circulation for residents and visitors alike, providing the public space a new use and value.

The criteria evaluated by the Network of Cities that Walk included the scope and cross-cutting nature of the measures, institutional partnerships, their potential for replication, as well as communication and the use of a participatory process.