Áreas de Aptidão Prioritárias Para Habitação de Interesse Social o Caso da Cidade da Praia

Este estudo propõe uma discussão sobre aptidão locacional para habitação de interesse social, considerando factores socioeconómicos e ambientais. Seu objectivo principal é identificar e avaliar o potencial das áreas de aptidão prioritárias para habitação de interesse social. Não obstante a expansão da cidade, particularmente o crescimento de bairros clandestinos ocupar áreas novas e sobretudo áreas de restrições ambientais e legais, a hipótese de pesquisa admite que existe, na cidade de Praia, um potencial urbano instalado, que pode ser potenciado em favor da população de baixa renda, dando vazão à demanda por localização de Habitação de Interesse Social, minimizando a expansão da cidade e os custos económicos, sociais e ambientais inerentes. A pesquisa conforma-se pelos princípios do método de análise espacial (MC HARG, 1969), subsidiados por sistemas de apoio à decisão (SAATY, 1977) e a teoria da sintaxe espacial (HILLIER & HANSON, 1984), desenvolvendo-se em ambiente SIG, com suporte do aplicativo ArcGis. Desenvolve um modelo teórico baseado em restrições legais - ambientais e factores potenciadores da actividade habitacional de interesse social, calibrado pelo custo do solo, e consubstanciado num mapa descritor das áreas mais adequadas para a localização de habitação social. A principal conclusão confirma a hipótese de existirem, na cidade da Praia, áreas com aptidão habitacional segundo critérios sócias, económicos e ambientais que podem ser potenciados para localizar habitação de interesse social.

Active civic participation of immigrants in Portugal

Portugal’s historical past strongly influences the composition of the country’s immigrant population. The main third-country foreign nationals in Portugal originate traditionally from Portuguese-speaking African countries (namely Cape Verde, Angola, Guinea Bissau, and S. Tomé e Príncipe) and Brazil. In 2001, a newly created immigrant status entitled “permanence” authorization uncovered a quantitative and a qualitative change in the structure of immigrant population in Portugal. First, there was a quantitative jump from 223.602 foreigners in 2001 to 364.203 regularized foreigners in 2003. Secondly, there was a substantial qualitative shift in the composition of immigrants. The majority of the new immigrants began coming from Eastern European countries, such as Ukraine, Moldavia, Romania, and the Russian Federation. Thus, European countries outside the E.U. zone now rank second (after African countries) in their contribution of individuals to the stocks of immigrant population in Portugal. The differences between the new and traditional immigration flows are visible in the geographical distribution of immigrants and in their insertion into the labour market. While the traditional flows would congregate around the metropolitan area of Lisbon and in the Algarve, the new migratory flows tend to be more geographically dispersed and present in less urbanized areas of Portugal. In terms of insertion in the labour market, although the construction sector is still the most important industry for immigrant labour, Eastern European workers may also be found in the agriculture and manufacturing sectors. The institutional conditions that encourage immigrants’ civic participation are divided at three different levels: the state, the local, and the civil society levels. At the state level, the High Commissioner for Migrations and Ethnic Minorities is the main organizational structure along with a set of interrelated initiatives operating under specific regulatory frameworks, which act as mediators between state officials and the Portuguese civil society, and more specifically, immigrant communities. At the local level, some municipalities created consultative councils and municipal departments aiming at encouraging the participation and representation of interests from immigrant groups and association in local policies. In the civil society sphere, the main actors in Portugal spurring immigrants civic participation are immigrant associations, mainstream associations directed toward immigration topics, and unions. The legal conditions framing immigrants’ access to social housing, education, health, and social security in Portugal are also considered to be positive. Conditions restricting immigrants’ civic participation are mainly normative and include the Portuguese nationality law, the regulations shaping the political participation of immigrants, namely in what concerns their right to vote, and employment regulations restricting immigrants’ access to public administration positions. Part II of the report focuses on the active civic participation of third country immigrants. First, reasons for the lack of research on this issue in Portugal are explained. On the one hand, the recent immigration history and the more urgent needs regarding school and economic integration kept this issue out of the research spotlight. On the other hand, it was just in the beginning of the 1990s that immigrants took the very first steps toward collective mobilisation. Secondly, the literature review of Portuguese bibliography covers research on third country immigrants’ associative movement, research on local authorities’ policies and discussion about ethnic politics and political mobilisation of immigrants in Portugal. As political mobilisation of these groups has been made mainly through ethnic and/or migrant organisations, a brief history of immigrants' associative movement is given. Immigrant associations develop multiple roles, covering the social, the cultural, the economic and the political domains. Political claiming for the regularisation of illegal immigrants has been a permanent and important field of intervention since the mid-1990s. Research results reveal the com5 plex relations between ethnic mobilisation and the set of legal and institutional frameworks developed by local and national governmental authorities targeted to the incorporation of minority groups. Case studies on the Oeiras district and on the Amadora district are then presented. Conclusions underline that the most active immigrant groups are those from Cape Verde and Guinea Bissau, since these groups have constituted a higher number of ethnic associations, give priority to political claiming and present a more politicised discourse. Reflecting on the future of research on civic participation of third country immigrants in Portugal, the authors state that it would be interesting and relevant to compare the Portuguese situation with those of other European countries, with an older immigration history, and analyse how the Portuguese immigrants’ associative movement will be affected by a changing legal framework and the emergence of new opportunities within the set of structures regarding the political participation of minority groups.

A Cidade e as Mulheres: A Luta pela Moradia Digna no Bairro de Ponta d`Água, Praia, Cabo Verde

Esse estudo sobre projeto de reabilitação de habitação no bairro de Ponta d`Água, visa compreender as representações sobre o espaço urbano na cidade da Praia, o que abre um diálogo sobre a forma como que as pessoas vêm e entendem o espaço em que vivem. Essa reflexão está vinculada a ideia de que o estudo de habitação engloba o espaço que a mesma ocupa, a estrutura e imagem do território, particularmente das áreas urbanas, permitindo-nos, então, interrogarmo-nos acerca da forma como se constrói, incluindo aqui as relações entre o individuo e a casa, entre esta e os espaços ao redor. Esta discussão permite-nos pensar que estar alojado é muito mais de que estar dentro de uma casa, no entanto implica segurança, conforto, espaço suficiente para a família, equipamentos, distância em relação ao emprego, aos serviços públicos/privados, aos diferentes tipos de comércio e as outras atividades complementares à habitação como, por exemplo, as de lazer. A intervenção da ONG Citi Habitat em parceria com a Câmara Municipal e outros parceiros é discutida a partir de representação de vários atores envolvidos no projeto. Nestas circunstâncias, é analisado o significado que as pessoas atribuem ao projeto de habitação social implementado pela referida ONG. Esta análise é extensiva às famílias de baixa renda, principalmente as chefiadas por mulheres. Este estudo é de caráter qualitativo, e se baseia na observação direta e participante além da realização de entrevistas semi-estruturadas.