Work progresses on the New Urban Park in the center of Porto

Source: Porto Canal

Work has already begun on the new city's urban park, planted in the center of Porto. It will be in the Lapa area, behind the metro station, covering around 17,000 square meters. The land, which hasn't been built on or developed for decades, was bought by the Canadian group Mercan Properties.

Two branches of an underground stream - the Ribeira de Vilar - run through Rua de Cervantes. The new urban planning project will bring it to the surface, allowing the green space to serve as a sponge during the winter, preventing flooding and acting as a protective dam for the city's riverside areas. During periods of prolonged rain, it is likely that a mirror of water will appear in Lapa, similar to a lake.

In addition to the planting of various species of trees, the park will have a "recreational path" and a "pedestrian path". The first phase of the work has already begun and the second phase of the park's construction, covering a further 2,500 square meters, is only due to start in 2025. A cafeteria is planned to support the park's visitors.

A "virtuous" public-private partnership

The Lapa Urban Park is being built by the Mercan group, in an agreement with Porto City Council that involves the new Renaissance Hotel in Lapa, a brand of the luxury hospitality Marriott, which opened on April 17 this year.

The land in Lapa was the subject of an urban planning study in 2019, which defined the area of the future park and the obligation of the public space, where the hotel group was responsible for doing the park's work and also for rehabilitating and expanding the streets of nearby Rua de Cervantes and Alves Redol.

"Either they paid fees or did the work," explains Pedro Baganha, the Urban Planning and Public Spaces councilor. "It was the alignment of public interests with private interests. Porto City Council defined how much, where, and what. The private developer agreed and built the park. In this way we were able to speed up the process, otherwise, we would have been waiting two years for tenders, and another two years waiting for a contractor."

 

 

 

 

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The Renaissance Porto Lapa Hotel

Lapa's newest five-star hotel is also being built in phases. The first building, in Rua de Cervantes, is already up and running. It has 163 rooms, four suites, a rooftop swimming pool, gym and conference space for 600 people. The second phase of construction, which involves a second building connected by bridges, will start in parallel with the urban park works. In total, the Mercan group will invest 90.5 million euros in Lapa.

"We bought all the land and then gave away 3,000 square meters for streets and another 14,500 for the public park," says Miguel Gomes, the Mercan director responsible for construction and development. "The agreement we made with Porto City Council was interesting for them and for us. The urban project for the park was already done, we're simply executing it."

The Lapa site behind the metro station was a "secret" in the city, says Miguel Gomes. "Just a few back streets," says Pedro Baganha. "We're stitching together various streets and unconnected plots of land. We're making the city".

A direct link is also being built between the Parque Urbano and the Lapa metro station. Currently, the northern entrance is just a dirt road.

Read the full interview, here!