Public-private partnership transforms Lapa into a greener haven

14/12/2023

The first tree is already there, ready to see the growth of many others, until the creation of 17 thousand square meters that will make the future Parque Urbano da Lapa a new lung for a greener Porto. The building of the space is the result of a partnership between the Municipality and Mercan Properties and will be ready in time for the Summer.

There is little memory of what the mayor called the “black hole”. It started with the building of the hotel, then the refurbishment of the streets Cervantes and Alves Redol. Now, it is time to paint the area green, in response to the “integrated development” desired by the population for that area of Lapa.

“These are the partnerships that allow cities to evolve and grow”, considers Rui Moreira, regarding what was agreed with Mercan Properties: the hotel group which bought the land and committed to building 1,7 ha of urban park, a space for people’s enjoyment and quality of life. In addition to its environmental mission – enhanced with the creation of a water retention basin – the location, and the hotel itself, want to be centres of attraction for more services, more housing and “high quality tourism”, improving the proximity and giving space for leisure in a very “dense area of the city”, the “last area in the city centre where a park could be built”. “There are no more spaces like this, with this dimension”, recognizes Rui Moreira.