This article was downloaded by: [b-on: Biblioteca do conhecimento online UL]On: 28 March 2012, At: 03:20Publisher: Taylor & FrancisInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office:Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

International Journal of Urban SustainableDevelopmentPublication details, including instructions for authors and subscriptioninformation:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tjue20

How can planning for sustainability improveCosta de Caparica's nightlife?Diana Neves Almeida a & João Mota-Guedes Fumega aa Centre for Geographical Studies, Institute of Geography and SpatialPlanning, University of Lisbon, Ed.Fac.Letras, Alameda da Universidade,Lisbon, 1600-214, Portugal

Available online: 28 Mar 2012

To cite this article: Diana Neves Almeida & João Mota-Guedes Fumega (2012): How can planningfor sustainability improve Costa de Caparica's nightlife?, International Journal of Urban SustainableDevelopment, DOI:10.1080/19463138.2012.667411

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19463138.2012.667411

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantialor systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, ordistribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden.

The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that thecontents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae,and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall notbe liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand, or costs or damages whatsoever orhowsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of thismaterial.

International Journal of Urban Sustainable DevelopmentiFirst, 2012, 1–13

DEBATE/VIEWPOINT ARTICLE

How can planning for sustainability improve Costa de Caparica’s nightlife?

Diana Neves Almeida* and João Mota-Guedes Fumega

Centre for Geographical Studies, Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning, University of Lisbon, Ed.Fac.Letras,Alameda da Universidade, Lisbon 1600-214, Portugal

(Received 19 April 2011; final version received 27 January 2012)

In the twentieth century, several transformations occurred in the way society used and perceived urbanlighting. This allowed the growth of leisure and other activities related to free time and culture into thenight period. Night gained an increasing importance among urban policies and therefore required to beframed within these complex urban contexts as well as other planning processes. This article addresses thePolis Program and its contribution to the improvement of Costa de Caparica’s nightlife. It aims to analysethe urban renewal intervention of the Polis Program at Costa de Caparica in terms of night economy andsustainability concerns, in light of Egan’s sustainable communities’ components. The argument is that theplanning of night can contribute to the construction of a sustainable community. The main conclusionsfocus on the importance that should have been given to governance, public participation and equity com-ponents of Egan’s wheel along the implementation of the programme, as well as in planning processesbroadly, towards achieving a sustainable nightlife.

Keywords: nightlife; sustainability; planning; Costa de Caparica; Polis Program; governance

Introduction

Social and cultural changes of recent decades haveincreased the importance of night as a spatial andtime concept essential to urban areas. Among thechanging drivers, some transformations occurredin modern societies: the liberalization of socialpractices; demographic changes; increase of sin-gle people without limitations of time; the comingout of new highly standardized urban life patterns.This range of circumstances has attenuated theday–night sequence, at the same time that differentrhythms are gaining a new importance. In addition,leisure and cultural practices related to free timehave gained a new projection in the social sphere –free time has emerged as an important period ofself-evaluation. These transformations are relatedto technological innovations in urban lighting,

*Corresponding author. Email: diana-almeida@campus.ul.pt

which has allowed the take up of economic, culturalor political activities into the night. Furthermore,there is a growing democratization of leisure asa group of night experiences, contributing to thedevelopment of new segments of economic activi-ties that only exist in the night-time period (Alves2010).

In this context, planning the urban night hascountless advantages, not only in the program-ming of activities and public space security issuesbut also in what concerns sustainability of energyconsumption and equity in access (Hollands andChatterton 2003; Espinasse and Buhagiar 2004;Alves 2007).

This article addresses the Polis Program andits contribution to the improvement of Costa deCaparica’s nightlife. It aims to analyse the urban

ISSN 1946-3138 print/ISSN 1946-3146 online© 2012 Taylor & Francishttp://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19463138.2012.667411http://www.tandfonline.com

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

b-on

: Bib

liote

ca d

o co

nhec

imen

to o

nlin

e U

L]

at 0

3:20

28

Mar

ch 2

012

2 D.N. Almeida and J.M.-G. Fumega

renewal intervention of the Polis Program atCosta de Caparica in terms of night economyand sustainability concerns, in light of Egan’ssustainable communities’ components. The argu-ment is that planning of night uses can contributeto the construction of a sustainable community.In addition, Polis Program should have given a bet-ter contribution in this sense, regarding mainly theinclusion of governance and participation in theplanning process.

The Polis Program results directly from a setof national assumptions of a general urban dis-order (Baptista 2008), which then was applied todifferent small- and medium-sized cities requir-ing urban reorganization, environmental quality,accessibilities improvement and also urban usesand design enhancement. Furthermore, the PolisProgram reflects a series of national decisionsbased on a top-down planning model, neglectinggovernance, equity and public participation com-ponents.

Failures found in Costa de Caparica’s PolisProgram analysis, concerning the irrelevanceassigned to night uses, are restricted to this par-ticular case. However, the absence of community’sconsultation and participation in the planning pro-cess and the post-plan information campaignsfor key stakeholders are common to other PolisPrograms.

Night planning towards more sustainablecommunities

Urban lighting had appeared by the year 1900, withthe main function of beautifying and redecoratingmonuments, places and spaces (Narboni 2003).Still, night continued to represent a barrier towardsday, assumed as the stage of all human activi-ties. This dichotomy separated day and night veryclearly, in which night was associated with theunknown, provoking fears, mystery, curiosity andcontradiction (Gwiazdzinski 2005). All these usesand perceptions were slowly changed due to thespreading of artificial lighting, first associated withcities and also in rural areas, but mainly after theSecond World War. Only decades later some less

developed countries started to experience artificiallighting.

The spread of public illumination changed peo-ple’s habits forever. Economic activities have takenadvantage of artificial light, seeking greater effi-ciency and increasing work productivity, by extend-ing the number of hours worked and dissolvingthe natural seasonal variations of light. All typesof professional activities could enter deeper inthe night period. Not only economic activitieshave undergone significant processes of changebut also social and cultural practices have beentransported, transformed and created in the nightperiod. Leisure is a fundamental element in nightplanning. Incorporating urban lighting in plan-ning considerations establishes the guidelines fordesign, orientation and efficiency of illuminationprojects. It generates urban life quality in termsof security, minimizing environmental risks andconstituting an opportunity to enjoy the night sky(Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias 1992). Lightcan be an instrument of (1) transforming and con-structing new landscapes, (2) upgrading spaces andcreating more suitable environments, (3) illuminat-ing most remarkable built heritage, (4) highlightingdetails and materials and (5) livening public spacesby creating a functional day use and by promotinga night use of parks and gardens (Narboni 2003;Alves 2009).

The most common approach in the researchdone on night planning is related to light and secu-rity. However, there are a set of authors who analysethe night issue in a varied number of forms relatedwith the time use perspective, cultural dimensionof night, leisure activities, night economy andothers. In this context, it is important to distin-guish some of the main authors’ perspectives onnight studies. French authors such as Cauquelin(1977), Deleuil (1994), Ascher (1997), Paquot(2000), Gwiazdzinski (2003, 2005), Espinasse andBuhagiar (2004) and Espinasse et al. (2005) tradi-tionally focus on the theme of night liveability andan experiences perspective. These authors tend tohighlight the urban landscapes and their transfor-mations, as well as the role of urban lighting designand planning as a way to differentiate and enhance

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

b-on

: Bib

liote

ca d

o co

nhec

imen

to o

nlin

e U

L]

at 0

3:20

28

Mar

ch 2

012

International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development 3

public spaces. The other perspectives come mostlyfrom English authors, with an approach to the nightmore related with the policies that regulate publicspace at night (Talbot 2007; Helms 2008; Pain andSmith 2008). These analyses focus essentially onthe night economy as a starting point for solvingproblems such as alcoholism and crime, which tendto have a special incidence in the United Kingdom.Allied to the issue of urban night planning, thereare also police regulation and security issues thatreflect spatially segregated night uses.

Regarding the article’s objective, planningissues have a direct application to the night’sspace–time dimension, mainly because these areneglected by planners and decision-makers, whousually plan for the day period. Both the dynamicnight economy and the way people use publicspaces affect their spatial construction, their rela-tion with others and their integration in the com-munity. For these reasons, it is important to con-textualize night planning in a matrix that focusesthe local scale through a point of view thatenhances sustainability. Thus, some definitions aregiven to the concept of sustainable communities.The Geographical Association and Academy forSustainable Communities defines sustainable com-munities as

[. . .] the places where people want to live andwork, now and in the future. They meet the diverseneeds of existing and future residents, are sen-sitive to their environment, and contribute to ahigh quality of life. They are safe and inclusive,well planned, built and run, and offer equality ofopportunity and good services for all.

Egan (2004b), in the skills for sustainable commu-nities report, presented the following definition:

Sustainable communities meet the diverse needsof existing and future residents, their childrenand other users, contribute to a high quality oflife and provide opportunity and choice. Theyachieve this in ways that make effective use ofnatural resources, enhance the environment, pro-mote social cohesion and inclusion and strengtheneconomic prosperity.

Finally, Roseland (2005) stresses the quality oflife as the central goal of sustainable communi-ties that “[. . .] seeks a better quality of life forall its residents while maintaining nature’s abil-ity to function over time by minimizing waste,preventing pollution, promoting efficiency anddeveloping local resources to revitalize the localeconomy”.

It is crucial to understand the concept ofsustainable community and to define communityas it is perceived in this concept. Community, interms of sustainable communities’ development,is regarded as an asset or capital that is cre-ated by spending time and effort in transformationand transaction activities (Ostrom 1993, quotedby Roseland 2005). The perspective of commu-nity capital includes natural, physical, economic,human, social and cultural forms of capital. Thenatural capital can be understood as the stockof natural assets that yields a flow of valuablegoods and services into the future and can bedivided into non-renewable resources, the finitecapacity of natural systems to produce “renewableresources” and the capacity of natural systems toabsorb our emissions and pollutants without sideeffects. The physical capital is the stock of materialresources such as equipment, buildings, machineryand other infrastructure that can be used to pro-duce a flow of future income. Economic capitalis related to the ways that resources are allocatedand people make decisions about their materiallife. It is important to strengthen the economiccapital to make more use of less, maximizing theresources; making things ourselves; making some-thing new and developing community financialinstitutions. Human capital comprehends health,education, skills, knowledge, leadership and accessto services. It needs continual maintenance byinvestments through the human lifetime (Ostrom1993, quoted by Roseland 2005). Social capitalconstitutes the essence that joins a communityinto a united group. It has an informal aspectrelated to social networks and a more formal aspectrelated to social development programmes. Socialcohesiveness and civicness are strongly associatedwith social networks and participation in society,

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

b-on

: Bib

liote

ca d

o co

nhec

imen

to o

nlin

e U

L]

at 0

3:20

28

Mar

ch 2

012

4 D.N. Almeida and J.M.-G. Fumega

including the governance processes through whichdecisions are made (Roseland 2005). Two impor-tant characteristics make social capital differ fromthe physical: first, social capital does not wear uponbeing used more and more, and second, if it is notused it deteriorates at a relatively rapid rate. Finally,cultural capital is the product of shared experi-ence through traditions, customs, values, heritage,identity and history.

Egan (2004a), in the report “The Egan review:skills for sustainable communities”, identifies eight

components that help to define and to apply theconcept of sustainable communities (see Figure 1,Egan’s wheel (2004c)).

They must be addressed as a group in order torespond adequately to the problems that communi-ties face nowadays, and a common sub-componentunderlines them all: these communities must be ofhigh quality, well run, connected, well served, fairfor everyone, thriving, well designed, maintained,safe, adaptable, environmentally and cost effec-tively provided (Egan 2004b). The components

Figure 1. Egan’s wheel: sustainable communities’ components.

Source: http://www.geography.org.uk/projects/buildingsustainablecommunities/onlinecpdunit/stimulus/activity1/.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

b-on

: Bib

liote

ca d

o co

nhec

imen

to o

nlin

e U

L]

at 0

3:20

28

Mar

ch 2

012

International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development 5

are governance, transport and connectivity, ser-vices, environment, economy, housing and builtenvironment, society and culture and equity, whichfunction like guidelines to assess how to plantowards the promotion of the sustainability of acommunity. A community takes many years toaccomplish, because the construction of social cap-ital is something that cannot be created by planningwithout the complete involvement of the popula-tion. With the promotion of an inclusive participa-tory process, planning could function as a lever ofthe intrinsic qualities of a community, and in thissense Egan’s eight components can provide a goodanswer because they reflect everything that a com-munity should be, and every single one of them canhave a straight relation to night economy, activi-ties and night fruition as will be discussed under“Planning for sustainability in the context of PolisProgram proposals”.

Costa de Caparica’s nightlife and PolisProgram framework

Costa de Caparica is a small parish from Almadamunicipality in the heart of the Metropolitan Areaof Lisbon (MAL), which is the main urban regionin Portugal. It faces the Atlantic Ocean in its entirecoast, providing regular beach uses not only forits residents but also for, and with a large rep-resentativeness of, other MAL residents and vis-itors (and tourists in a seasonal basis). Until thetwentieth century, Costa de Caparica representeda group of fishing companies, carrying out tradi-tional activities that occupied small urban nuclei.The shifting point occurred due to the constructionof the bridge over the Tagus River (Ponte 25 deAbril), in 1966, which came to change the rela-tionships between the south shore and the capital,and from which Costa de Caparica has benefited(Couto 2000 in Polis Program 2003). This factallowed the intensification of the transportationflows, the population growth and the affirmationof this territory as a recreational and summer des-tiny in the context of the MAL due to its proximityto large beach areas. The explosive growth hadits origins in a specific political and economic

period of Portugal, resulting from the end of theimperial colonies in Africa, in 1974, from wherethe main part of the population returned. Almadamunicipality experienced a 51.3% increase of pop-ulation, when Lisbon, by contrast, slowly lost pop-ulation since 1981. Costa de Caparica has sufferedin this period an important and drastic evolu-tion from a small urban centre to a medium-sizedurban centre within only a decade, an explosivegrowth which had in its origin the constructionof an impressive number of clandestine houses.The most important economic activities are con-struction, retail, tourism, restaurants and accom-modation services. They also register the highestemployment rates: 18.5% of Costa de Caparica’sresidents work on services related to retail andsales and almost 16% in the restaurants and accom-modation economic sector (Instituto Nacional deEstadistica 2001). Towards this distribution Costade Caparica developed an important nucleus oftourism and leisure, mainly night economic activ-ities, for example, restaurants, bars, discos andother night parties that usually blend music inthe beach.

Like Costa de Caparica, many other small-and medium-sized cities in Portugal faced seri-ous urban, mobility and environmental problems,which Baptista (2008) recalls as consequences ofthe “disorderly country”. The author relies ontwo main aspects to affirm that the country isin disorder; the first one is based on politicalagendas supported by democratization principles,equity, environmental protection and decentraliza-tion of power. These particular transformations areassociated with the end of a dictatorial politicalregime (1974), which reflected in the society econ-omy and cultural spheres and with the entry ofPortugal in the European Union in 1986. The sec-ond reason for the disorderly country focuses onthe polarization of the urban structure. It is orga-nized in turn of two metropolitan areas (Lisboaand Porto) and marked by a clear growth through-out the coastline of the main medium-sized cities,concentrating people and employment (Baptista2008). The unplanned urban growth caused a dis-crepancy between public spaces, infrastructures

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

b-on

: Bib

liote

ca d

o co

nhec

imen

to o

nlin

e U

L]

at 0

3:20

28

Mar

ch 2

012

6 D.N. Almeida and J.M.-G. Fumega

and the actual urban fabric. Baptista (2008) alsorefers to the lack of commitment to environmentalquality in urban areas, uncontrolled parking, trafficcongestion and carless city centres as the reflectionof poor policy options, which have missed a sharedresponsibility of governance and public participa-tion in the planning processes (cf. “Egan’s wheel”2004c).

The Portuguese Government created the PolisProgram to tackle this situation in the year 2000(Law No. 26/2000). Environmental quality prob-lems, lack of public spaces, traffic congestion andthe emptiness of historical centres are the foremostfoci of the programme. The main objective is to“improve the quality of life in cities through inter-ventions in the urban and environmental sectors,improving the attractiveness and competitivenessof the urban centres that have a relevant role inthe structure of the national urban system” (LawNo. 26/2000). Polis initiative, which started with18 cities, has now been applied to 28 cities oflarge dimensions and another 12 of small dimen-sions (total 40 cities). Ribeiro (1999) identifieduncontrolled urban growth as the most commonproblem among Portuguese cities. Services ratherthan housing started to take part in the landscapeof the old historical centres. Higher housing pricesalso kept people away from the city centres, strip-ping them of their old residential functions. Thesefacts allowed an accelerated process of heritagedegradation, being also associated with the lackof market incentives towards urban rehabilitation.Suburban growth was uncontrolled, revealing a dis-abled infrastructure and social systems allied to apoor urban liveability, long commuting journeysand lack of green public spaces, caused by a com-pact construction based on housing speculation.

Facing profound territorial problems, PolisProgram interventions look forward to providecities and urban centres new centralities and betterquality of life. Their poor architecture and aweak urban environmental quality characterize thechaotic urban organization, stimulated in the last10 years by secondary residences and camping thatsprawled through the waterfront, creating a parallelbarrier along the beach. In this specific case, the

camping activity (mainly caravans) constitutes atype of permanent residence, apart from their holi-day or weekend use. These represent a large stressto the environment, for example, in the water qual-ity due to sewage discharges. Despite its housingfunctions, Costa de Caparica developed powerfulattractions based on tourism and leisure, having70% of seasonal dwellings in 1991, decreasingabout 7% in 2001. Tourism and leisure of Costade Caparica are mainly represented by two maindriving forces: (1) occasional visits from the wholeMAL – this kind of tourism is connected toleisure demand, focused specifically in beach pur-suit; (2) holiday or weekend demand – this demandrelates to both leisure and tourism needs but it isalso focused mainly on a long-term beach pursuit.

The main urban problems identified in Costa deCaparica, in which Polis Program needed to inter-vene, were poor environment quality, bad hous-ing conditions (shanty and rudimentary housing),lack of urban organization, limited transporta-tion and accesses, lack of architectural quality,very few green spaces, bad quality accesses tothe urban beaches, inadequate parking and water-front’s promenade in poor conditions. The workbegan at the end of 2006 and ended in April2009, restructuring the whole village of Costa deCaparica.

Costa de Caparica’s Polis Program consid-ered eight anchor projects: waterfront regeneration,urban beach redesign, urban form, rural areas,camping park relocation, accessibility and trans-port. It consisted of seven detailed plans (PP); onefor each specific area: urban beaches (PP1); urbangardens (PP2); Campo da Bola shanty neighbour-hood (PP3); urban and rural west front (PP4); tran-sition beaches (PP5); equipped beach (PP6); andnew camping areas (PP7). The coastal zone planshad greater importance in this context, not onlydue to the major transformations in beach equip-ment and parking areas but even in reorganizinguses and users; the PP1 also incorporated worksof coastal protection. Environmental preservationand coastal safety were the two main concerns inthis detailed plan. Massive building constructiondamages the quality of the sand and shrinks the

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

b-on

: Bib

liote

ca d

o co

nhec

imen

to o

nlin

e U

L]

at 0

3:20

28

Mar

ch 2

012

International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development 7

beaches; therefore, there was a need to invest inredesigning the beach profile, artificially feedingwith sand and constructing breakwater bars. Thisintervention aimed to improve the quality ofthe built and natural environment of Costa deCaparica’s centre and its beaches, providing newpublic spaces with added value, because environ-mental quality was considered when creating newgreen urban structures. Mobility was given specialattention by creating circulation restrictions on pri-vate transportation (Figure 2).

Planning for sustainability in the context ofPolis Program proposals

Although the Polis Program has providedsignificant changes in Costa de Caparica’s reality,it lacks a global vision for this territory, especiallyin what regards economic activities’ sustainabilityand the environment. Costa de Caparica’s publicspaces lack night programmes; they neitherpromote nocturnal activities nor do they adaptto these activities through specific equipment.Along with day uses associated with tourism

PP 1 – Urban

beaches

PP 2 – Urban

garden

PP 3 – Campo da

Bola

PP 5 – Transition

beaches

PP 6 – Equipped

beach

PP 7 – New

camping areas

PP 4 – Urban and rural

west front

Figure 2. Intervention area of Costa de Caparica’s Polis Program.

Source: Strategic plan of Costa de Caparica: living the city (2003), http://www.costapolis.pt/index.php.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

b-on

: Bib

liote

ca d

o co

nhec

imen

to o

nlin

e U

L]

at 0

3:20

28

Mar

ch 2

012

8 D.N. Almeida and J.M.-G. Fumega

activities, such as beach and water sports, nightuses such as restaurants, bars, discos, waterfrontspromenade, stars observations and others were nottaken into consideration by the master plan thatintended to “develop actions that contribute to there-development and revitalization of urban centres,and promotes the multi-functionality of thosecentres, strengthening their role in the region’scontext” (translated from Portuguese, PolisProgram, www.costapolis.pt) (Almada MasterPlan 1996). The regeneration work that partiallyfocuses on the area’s nightlife has targeted securityissues. Parking areas along the beach corridorare excessively illuminated (Figure 3), as well asthe waterfront walk (Figure 4) where bars andrestaurants are not allowed to open during thenight.

This article uses the “sustainable communities”characteristics of the Egan review (2004a) as ananalytical framework for the analysis of Costa deCaparica’s Polis Program.

Assuming that Costa de Caparica’s develop-ment must assemble a sustainable community, thequestion “how can sustainable planning improvethe nightlife of a specific waterfront district?”should be answered with the analysis of boththe concluded plan for the Polis Program andsustainability components according to which a

Figure 3. Perspectives of lightning in the parking area.

Source: Photo by the author, April 2009.

community should be based. In this view, this arti-cle uses the approach of the “sustainable commu-nities” characteristics of the Egan review (2004a)as an analytical framework for the analysis of theCosta de Caparica Polis Program.

Through measuring activities, acts and territo-rial transformation, planning should guide commu-nities to pursue the best for their inhabitants and topromote their life style as an example of good prac-tice. Moreover, some measures must be addressedto accomplish the crossover between sustainabilityand nightlife. The Polis Program interventionsbrought to Costa de Caparica new places for pub-lic use, and so they could be used not only duringdaylight hours but also during the night, becauseconditions and equipment are already set. Table 1presents the intention to gather diagnosed prob-lems, Polis Program interventions and sustainablecommunity’s components of Egan’s wheel and linkthem to achieve a balance between what is alreadydone and what is desirable to improve the nightlifeof Costa de Caparica.

The Polis Program brought several newapproaches to urban planning and in a certainway it started new forms of diagnosing, deci-sion and urban regeneration. After a troubledhistory of political decision-making and govern-mental changes (Baptista 2008), the programme

Figure 4. New equipment created by Polis Program andlightning devices along the waterfront.

Source: Photo by the author, April 2009.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

b-on

: Bib

liote

ca d

o co

nhec

imen

to o

nlin

e U

L]

at 0

3:20

28

Mar

ch 2

012

International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development 9

Table 1. Relation between Egan’s components and proposed activities.

Scope Sustainability components Proposals

The waste of energy connectedwith lack of lighting planning(Portela 2007)

Services/governance Energy cost associated with urban lightingis a concern for local authorities, whichshould programme suitable lighting fordifferent spaces and activities. Plannersshould work with the community andstakeholders to reach a fair use of publicspace at night

Planning process (Baptista 2008) Equity To support and disclose public participationinitiatives would improve informationtowards planning processes, mainly inwhat regards to night uses and sustainablepractices around new intervention areas(such as Polis Program)

Ecology and environment:disturbances in maritimeecosystems; light pollution(Mizon 2002)

Environment The use of light sources that are directed tothe ground, guiding all their light belowand focus, specially on the waterfront(Starlight Initiative 2007)

Lack of accessibility wasdecreasing competitiveness andurban space quality: trafficcongestion resulted from bothcar use and the lack of suitablepublic transportation use (PolisProgram 2003)

Transports and connectivity Reinforce networks and public transports torespond to the seasonal increase of usersassociated with beach pursuit: forexample, extend the Almada’s surfacemetro to Costa de Caparica; restructurethe schedules of the surface-tram alongthe waterfront, including night usebecause many bars and restaurants arelocated within this line; reformulate theexisting “Transpraia” transportation

Night space appropriation Governance Improve lighting efficiency in the citycentre; promote regular meeting withowners and police forces, diagnosingcritical events

Entertainment: bars and discosare points of alcohol sale duringthe night favouring delinquency(Helms 2008)

Economy Night security towards alcohol and crime

Standardization of thewaterfront’s restaurants –disrespect of cultural andhistorical characteristics

House and built environment Lighting appealing: create light designs inthe entrance of the restaurants tostrategically differentiate them; forexample, discos cast a ray into the darksky to attract customers

Increasing demand for nightindividual and collective uses(Ascher 1997; Gwiazdzinski2003, 2005; Espinasse 2004;Espinasse et al. 2005)

Social and cultural New public garden possesses football andtennis fields, as well as running circuitswith illumination capable for nightsports; build a cultural equipment topromote other night uses such as cinema,theatres, exhibitions – complement to therestaurants and bars that function as thecentral piece in a strategy to eat,see/participate and drink circuit thatcould boost Costa de Caparica’s nighteconomy (Alves 2010)

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

b-on

: Bib

liote

ca d

o co

nhec

imen

to o

nlin

e U

L]

at 0

3:20

28

Mar

ch 2

012

10 D.N. Almeida and J.M.-G. Fumega

emerged as an opportunity for stagnated cities.It applied the high urban quality standards ofthe former EXPO’98 (World Exhibition) at itsstart. The EXPO’98 site was an old industrialand abandoned area of Lisbon transformed to bethe place for the exhibition. Due to the goodresults, the city gained a fully regenerated areawith architecture and public space design qual-ity. This echoes the idea of the “disorderly coun-try” maintained by Baptista (2008) whereby everymunicipality consequently wanted a small “EXPO”for marketing reasons. Real estate speculation hasbeen strongly related with the planning practice inPortugal.

The success of EXPO’98 that inspired thePolis Program was based on four principles:(1) the urban regeneration works were completed in5 years, which made decision-makers believe thatin a smaller scale the execution time would shorten.Though sustainable communities take much longerto build, there is more than engineering worksinvolved to build a community as Egan (2004b)has discussed in his eight components; (2) thecreation of a public/private company responsiblefor the intervention’s implementation and manage-ment (Parque Expo). Later, every Polis Programwas assisted by Parque Expo and specific techni-cal boards (Sociedade Polis) were created for thelocal implementation; (3) the top-down decision-making, in which the municipalities had no orlittle planning influence, eliminated several polit-ical decisions and alienated public participationof the planning process. In addition, governancewas forgotten in this process, because leadership,representation and participation were made fromthe top, (4) resulting in public consultancy morethan public participation. Much of the “partici-pation” carried out by Costa de Caparica’s PolisProgram (among other Polis Programs) was basedon public information sessions, where the manage-ment company (Sociedade Costa Polis) promotedpublic involvement in the decision-making process.However, this involvement was a part of the com-munication strategy, whereby the Polis Programand the mayor encouraged local residents to getinvolved in the sense of living in the new city

transformed by Polis (Baptista 2008), and not pub-lic consultation throughout the planning process.In the context of Costa de Caparica, SociedadeCosta Polis promoted smaller meetings with keyeconomic and local actors (fire corporation, munic-ipal police, parish president, religious institutions,environmental activists, etc.), which approximateda form of public participation. However, these can-not be representative of all residents and users,whose interests also should have been respected.At this point, the equity component was missed inthe process of achieving a sustainable community,because not everyone had the same opportuni-ties to participate and had not benefited with theintervention’s results.

Governance and equity are two componentsof Egan’s wheel, highlighting the importance ofthe community-based decisions and also the inclu-sion of community’s participation in the decisionprocess. In addition, equity that amounts to fair-ness reminds the relevance of equal distributionof the various types of resources. These com-ponents, which should be strategic and integratevalues and different perspectives, are major fail-ures of Polis Program as a planning instrument.Partidário and Arts (2005) in her work about strate-gic methodological approaches presents key fea-tures of the strategic-based approach that shouldhave been contemplated in the Polis Program,such as critical decision factors analysis, gover-nance framework, communication strategy, discus-sion and assessment of the strategic options toselect critical pathways for sustainability and prob-lem perception, dialogues, development of trustand knowledge-brokerage among others. Equityand governance can be built based on these keyaspects.

As was demonstrated, it is possible to crossEgan’s sustainability components with the envi-ronmental and urban quality improvement of PolisProgram goals, as also the night uses and eco-nomic activities of Costa de Caparica. A specificterritorial ambition could be drawn in order todistinguish this from any other Polis intervention,which did not happen in the Costa de Caparica’sPolis Program.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

b-on

: Bib

liote

ca d

o co

nhec

imen

to o

nlin

e U

L]

at 0

3:20

28

Mar

ch 2

012

International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development 11

Therefore, discussing whether planning forsustainability can improve the nightlife of a specificterritory is to equate Costa de Caparica’s nightlifeexistence and relevance in future plans and pro-grammes. It is crucial to incorporate a diagnosisof night users, entrepreneurs and local authoritiesin what concerns crime and alcohol disturbances(Hobbs et al. 2003). This relation or predomi-nance towards night economic activities must beidentified and evaluated in order to understandtheir (un)sustainability and propose measures tosolve specific problems, for example, crime andlack of lighting in public spaces (Roberts 2004).Additionally, reports of good practices should beproduced in the Polis Program context to frame theintervention as a continuous improvement of some-thing good existing before; Roberts’ (2004) reportassembles a literature review on the night economysubject, as well as recommendations based on indi-vidual night diagnoses and successful actions. Thisapproach does not seem to be new; planners mustknow the night users, their practices and needsin order to innovate in urban night environments;they also need to evaluate natural threats and knowabout environmental potential of a place, for exam-ple, the scope and intensity of light pollution or theamount and direction of artificial lighting.

In general, the national Polis Program has hadand continues to have positive impacts in theurban and environmental contexts, ordering theuses and structuring urban areas. Improving envi-ronmental and urban quality, restructuring mobil-ity and innovating in urban design are specificand valuable goals from any socio-economic orgeographical perspectives. However, two critiquesstand out: one relates to a territorial interven-tion model broadly spread, resulting in a uniqueway of doing things, which ultimately compro-mises singularity and suitability; the other is thelack of a community-based approach to these plans(Polis Program) leading to a certain homogeniza-tion. Largely this standardization comes from theplan design itself, from the materials used toimprove the built environment and also from thelack of public participation. The absence of pub-lic participation results not only due to the lack

of participation mechanisms in the planning pro-cess but also deeply due to the mismatch betweenthe plan phase and the point in time that peo-ple are called to participate. Public-participatedplanning should not come by the end of the plan-ner’s decision, but instead in the beginning ofthe plan scheme embodying a public understand-ing of what should be the intervention for theirterritory. The absence of public participation chan-nels also creates a disarticulation among antici-pated gains from the Polis Program and the setof activities that already existed, for example, thenight economy services and the public space use(at night).

Final remarks

The Polis Program was an important planning ini-tiative in Costa de Caparica, because this city wasurgently in need of a full-scale intervention due todecades of explosive demographic growth, uncon-trolled urban expansion and serious environmentalconflicts. The main drivers of this planning inter-vention were accessibility and waterfront renewal,as well as the quality of public spaces. This hasindeed produced a positive impact in Costa deCaparica’s urban space quality; however, it hasnot addressed the main issues properly. Therefore,those specific architectural works have not pro-duced a full-scale renewal effect, sidelining thecity’s capacity as a nightlife district. Night, asa space of socio-cultural and economic activitieswith a strong importance in the life of Costa deCaparica, was not addressed in the programme.

Regeneration policies must be modified andreframed in wider social, economic and culturalcontexts, focusing on sustainable communities inaspects such as environmental sensitivity, connec-tivity, night services or urban design, which areimportant features that distinguish places and con-tributes to define place identity. This article pro-vides academics and planners an insight into theapproach of a specific planning instrument thatapparently had an enormous success, but other-wise lacked strategy in night economy activities,users and practices, and likely many other urban

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

b-on

: Bib

liote

ca d

o co

nhec

imen

to o

nlin

e U

L]

at 0

3:20

28

Mar

ch 2

012

12 D.N. Almeida and J.M.-G. Fumega

interventions. More research is needed in bridg-ing sustainability and night planning. Diagnoses,enquiries and stakeholder and community con-sultation are required to understand the nightdimension of a place and how it can be plannedequitably.

New visions are required to fit the Polisinterventions at the local scale, especiallyconcerning a framework analysis that highlightsgovernance, public participation and equity, amongother values inherent to planning. However, thischange must come from the top – only profoundchanges in national policy can produce efforts toapproach diverse communities in the planning pro-cess. Works like Egan’s sustainable communities’components could help planners to establish guide-lines for addressing public need and providinginstruments to build up a better community.

Notes on contributorsDiana Neves Almeida: Centre for Geographical Studies,Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning, Universityof Lisbon, Ed.Fac.Letras, Alameda da Universidade,Lisbon 1600-214, Portugal

João Mota-Guedes Fumega: Centre for GeographicalStudies, Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning,University of Lisbon, Ed.Fac.Letras, Alameda daUniversidade, Lisbon 1600-214, Portugal

ReferencesAlmada Master Plan. 1996. Plano Director Municipal e

de identificaçãi dos principais factores de evoluçãodo municiípio. Rev. 2008. Almada (Portugal): Ed.Direcção municiapl de planeamento e administraçãodo território.

Alves T. 2007. A noite, a cidade e a geografia das activi-dades económicas, Geophilia. O sentir e os sentidosda Geografia. In: Homenagem a Jorge Gaspar, editor.Lisboa (Portugal): Centro de Estudos Geográficos.p. 498–500.

Alves T. 2009. Fazer Geografia através da Luz.Lisboa (Portugal): Centro de Estudos Geográficos,Universidade de Lisboa.

Alves T. 2010. Geografia da Noite, conhecer, com-preender e repensar os territórios (programa). Lisboa(Portugal): Research Group of TERRiUTR, Centrode Estudos Geográficos.

Ascher F. 1997. Du vivre en juste à temps au chrono-urbanisme. Les Annales de la Recherche Urbaine.77:113–122.

Baptista I. 2008. O Programa POLIS e o “PaísDesordenado”: percepções sobre governância eplaneamento urbano em Portugal. In: Cabral MV,Silva FC, Saraiva T, editors. Cidade e Cidadania:Governança urbana e participação cidadã em per-spectiva comparada. Lisboa (Portugal): Instituto deCiências Sociais. p. 1–34.

Cauquelin A. 1977. La ville la nuit. Paris (France): PUF.Deleuil JM. 1994. Lyon La Nuit, lieux, pratiques

et images. Lyon (France): Transversales PressesUniversitaires de Lyon.

Egan J. 2004a. The Egan review: skills for sustainablecommunities. London (UK): Crown.

Egan J. 2004b. Skills for sustainable communi-ties. London (UK): Office of the Deputy PrimeMinister.

Egan J. 2004c. Egan’s wheel for sustainable communi-ties [Internet]. [cited 2012 Jan 4]. Available from:http://www.geography.org.uk/projects/buildingsustainablecommunities/onlinecpdunit/stimulus/activity1/.

Espinasse C, Buhagiar P. 2004. Les passagers de la nuit.Vie nocturne des jeunes. Paris (France): EditionsL’Harmattan.

Espinasse C, Gwiazdzinski L, Heurgon E, coord. 2005.La Nuit en question(s). Vaucluse (France): Colloquede Cerisy, Editions L´aube essai.

Gwiazdzinski L. 2003. La ville 24 heures sur 24. LaTour-d’Aigues (France): Editions l’Aube.

Gwiazdzinski L. 2005. La Nuit, derniére frontiérede la ville. La Tour-d’Aigues (France): Editionsl´Aube.

Helms G. 2008. Towards safe city centres? Remaking thespaces of an Old-Industrial City. Hampshire (UK):Ashgate.

Hobbs D, Hadfield P, Lister S, Winlow S. 2003.Bouncers: violence and governance in the night-time economy. Oxford (UK): Oxford UniversityPress.

Hollands R, Chatterton P. 2003. Producing nightlife inthe new urban entertainment economy: corporatisa-tion, branding and market segmentation. Int J UrbanReg Res. 27(2):361–385.

House and Communities Academy [Internet]; [cited2011 Feb]. Available from: www.hcaacademy.co.uk

Instituo Nacional de Estadística. 2001. Censos 2001:XIV recenseamento geral da população [Internet].[cited 2009 Apr 14]. Available from: www.ine.pt

Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias. 1992. Sky LawNo. 243/1992. Canarias (Spain): Light Pollution andRegulation Office.

Law No. 26/2000. 2000. Polis Program creation, Diárioda República I Série, No.112th, 15/05/2000.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

b-on

: Bib

liote

ca d

o co

nhec

imen

to o

nlin

e U

L]

at 0

3:20

28

Mar

ch 2

012

International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development 13

Mizon B. 2002. Light pollution: responses and remedies.London (UK): Springer.

Narboni R. 2003. Brève histoire de l’urbanisme lumièreIn Penser la ville par la lumière. Paris (France):Project Urbain, Éditions de la Villette.

Ostrom E. 1993. Social capital and developmentprojects. Prepared for social capital and economicdevelopment. American Academy of Arts andSciences, Cambridge, MA, 30–31 Jul.

Pain R, Smith SJ, editors. 2008. Fear: criticalgeopolitics and everyday life, collection Re-materialising Cultural Geography. Hampshire (UK):Ashgate.

Paquot T. 2000. Le sentiment de la nuit urbaine aux XIXet XX siècles. Les Annales de la Recherche Urbaine.87:6–14.

Partidário MR, Arts J. 2005. Exploring the conceptof strategic environmental assessment follow-up.IAPA. 23(3): 246–257.

Polis Program. 2003. Strategic plan of Costa deCaparica: living the city [Internet]. Lisbon(Portugal): Ministry of Environment and TerritorialPlanning; [cited 2011 Jan 19]. Available from: http://www.costapolis.pt/index.php

Portela C. 2007. Light and architecture, conferenceStarLight: a common heritage, Starlight Initiative.Tenerife (Spain): Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias(IAC). p. 111–114.

Ribeiro JMF. 1999. Programa de RequalificaçãoUrbana e Valorização Ambiental das Cidades.Lisboa (Portugal): Ministério do Ambiente e doOrdenamento do Território.

Roberts M. 2004. Good practice in managing the eveningand late night economy: a literature review from anenvironmental perspective, Central Cities Institute,University of Westminster. London (UK): Office ofthe Deputy Prime Minister.

Roseland M. 2005. Toward sustainable communities-revised edition. Gabriola (BC): New SocietyPublishers.

Starlight Initiative. 2007. International initiative indefence of the quality of the night sky asMankind’s scientific, cultural and environmentalright [Internet]. [cited 2009 Mar 20]. Available from:http://www.starlight2007.net/videoeng.htm

Talbot D. 2007. Regulating the night. Culture and exclu-sion in the making of the night-time economy,Hampshire (UK): Ashgate.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

b-on

: Bib

liote

ca d

o co

nhec

imen

to o

nlin

e U

L]

at 0

3:20

28

Mar

ch 2

012