Ecological Structure

The urban redesign of the entire Alta do Lumiar area has led to the installation of two urban parks of great local and municipal importance:

• Quinta das Conchas and Lilacs Park
• Vale Grande Park
• Central Axis of Alta do Lumiar

It also made it possible to build an extensive green area to frame the roads that form the central axis, side roads and traffic circles, consisting of large lawns, trees and dense, shaped patches of shrubbery.

The Alta do Lumiar Green Corridor aims to link this park structure with the peripheral corridor to the north, namely with the Quinta de Santa Clara Garden, and with the Central Corridor to the south, especially with the Alvalade Forest, through the green space for public use in a strip parallel to Rua das Murtas (under redevelopment)

Map of the Alta do Lumiar green corridor

The Central Corridor is a discontinuous green structure, resulting from the overlapping of small and medium-sized green areas integrated into the built fabric, based on low-density spaces, especially public-use facilities such as the Zoo, the University City, the University Stadium, the Hospital Park and LNEC.

The Dr. Mário Soares Garden is the most important park in this corridor. This garden is the starting point for the link with the green spaces of the Hospital Park and LNEC, which was the target of an intervention that allowed it to be opened to the public, functioning as a green corridor between the Mata de Alvalade / Quinta do Narigão and the Quinta das Conchas e dos Lilases, encompassing recreational and leisure areas and a horticultural park.

The University Stadium, as well as the University City, are green spaces integrated into facilities of great importance in the ecological continuum. On the other side, the Alvalade neighborhood, with its many patios, represents a unique green structure in the city of Lisbon.

Also included in this corridor is the renovated Praça de Espanha.

The link between the central corridor and the Olivais and Oriental corridors will be strengthened with the installation of an accessible link for pedestrians and bicycles over Av. Gago Coutinho.

Map of the Central Green Corridor

The Monsanto Green Corridor is part of the city's ecological structure, linking the Monsanto Forest Park to the Eduardo VII Park, over an area of around 2.5 km, with an area of 51 hectares and a network of trails of around 40 km.

Conceived in the 1970s and advocated by architect Ribeiro Telles, it was completed in 2012. As the first green corridor in the city of Lisbon, it provided the capital with an ecological structure with various gardens and parks, an experimental area of biodiverse meadows, a horticultural park, a cornfield, multipurpose facilities such as cycle paths, maintenance circuits, a children's playground, a skate park, restaurants, kiosks and viewpoints.

Hundreds of trees and shrubs have been planted throughout the 51 hectares of green areas, including oaks, cork oaks, stone pines, almond trees and plum trees.

Map of the Monsanto green corridor

It stretches between Monsanto Forest Park, in Alto da Ajuda, and Rua Eduardo Bairrada, in Ajuda.

It also includes discontinuous spaces in the surrounding area, such as the Jardim das Damas and the Ajuda Botanical Garden. Divided into a northern and a southern area, it consists of extensive green areas, paths, picnic areas and a small riding arena, as well as a horticultural park.

Rio Seco Urban Parks I, II, III and IV, covering a total of around 2.7 hectares, are an area that has been built in phases:

• to the south, with the rehabilitation of a sports area, the creation of seating areas and a viewpoint, the installation of public lighting, a children's playground and a vegetable garden, the enhancement and cleaning of the escarpment, and the planting of trees and shrubs;
• to the north, with the upgrading of the green structure and public space of Bairro 2 de Maio, in an area of around 42^m2: upgrading of the sidewalks, implementation of a green tree structure promoting its interrelationship with the entire structure of the future park in the valley, new street furniture and public lighting.

In the Urban Park, further north, the valley was cleaned and the stream restored, trees and shrubs planted, a network of paths and a "pigeon village".

In total, around 1,000 trees and 5,000 shrubs were planted.

Other points of interest:
Alto da Ajuda retention basin
Tapada da Ajuda

Map of the Rio Seco Western Green Corridor

The Olivais Green Corridor is a connecting structure between the different local parks and green areas.

Starting at the José Gomes Ferreira Park, the route connects the green areas flanking Avenida Cidade do Porto to the Olivais Urban Park and the Vale do Silêncio Park, one of the best examples of an urban park with a profound modernist design, with continuity to the new Quinta do Conde de Arcos Urban Park.

Vale do Silêncio Park is made up of an extensive lawn inside and surrounded by woodland. It has a kiosk, a children's playground, a fitness park, a climbing wall, a dog park (under construction), a maintenance circuit and various walking routes with direct contact with nature. Inside, there is a cycle path that stretches all the way to the Oriente station.

Crossing the Avenida de Berlim, it provides a direct link to the Parque Urbano dos Olivais, which has a children's playground, a vegetable park with 31 plots, a maintenance circuit linked to the Vale do Silêncio Park and the Rua dos Eucaliptos Forest.

Continuing along the cycle path on Avenida Francisco Luís Gomes takes you to the Quinta do Conde de Arcos Urban Park, which has a children's playground, seating areas, pedestrian circuits and a vegetable park with 45 plots. The farm is home to a municipal nursery, the Gardening and Paving School and a nursery school (currently being completed).

The various green spaces for public use in the parish of Olivais include the Maria de Lourdes Sá Teixeira Garden, the Rua dos Eucaliptos Garden and the Alameda da Encarnação

Map of the Olivais green corridor

Located in the eastern part of Lisbon, in the parishes of Marvila and Beato, it runs alongside Belavista Park and is Lisbon's second largest green area.

The existing network of paths connects Belavista South Park to Belavista Central Park (via a green viaduct over Avenida Marechal António Spínola), Vale da Montanha Urban Park and Casal Vistoso Urban Park (via the cycle-pedestrian bridge). Alongside this network of paths, there are several rainwater drainage lines that result in a naturalized retention area, very rich from a biodiversity point of view. With extensive low-load green areas, biodiversity plays a major role in management models here. Dryland solutions are being tested on these meadows, which are capable of contributing to closing the carbon cycle, including, in the near future, the occasional grazing of animals.

The eastern green corridor continues along the Vale da Montanha Urban Park and the 11 hectares of its urban park, which recovers the surface rainwater drainage lines that connect it, as well as the network of paths, to the Belavista Sul Park. In a second phase (under design), this park will be connected to the Chelas Valley, continuing to the Xabregas riverside area.

To the west, the connection to Olaias and Alameda Dom Afonso Henriques, in the direction of Avenida Duque d'Ávila and Monsanto Forest Park, is via a cycle-pedestrian bridge over the inner belt railway line and Vale da Montanha, with a direct connection to Casal Vistoso Park, which also includes a vegetable park with 17 plots and a fitness park. This park recovers the surface rainwater drainage lines and is connected by a network of paths to the Belavista Sul park. To the south, the second phase of this urban park is being planned and is due to open in 2021.

To the east, the Vale de Chelas Urban Park, the largest vegetable park in Europe built from scratch, with 219 plots, has a viewpoint with a seating area, a children's playground, a skate park and ping-pong tables.

The cycle-pedestrian bridge over Avenida do Santo Condestável, together with the next section, connects to the Vale Fundão Urban Park. This park, which dates back to the 1960s, has seating areas, a fitness park, a network of footpaths and a maintenance circuit. It has been extended to include a vegetable garden with a total of 44 plots and a rainwater retention basin. It was also fitted with a wooden acoustic barrier to isolate the park from Avenida Marechal António de Spínola. It is crossed by a cycle path that connects Vale de Chelas to the river.

At this junction is the Quinta das Flores Park, which has a vegetable park with 40 plots, a children's playground and a woodland area that includes a seating area and a grove of elm clones resistant to graffiti.

The arrival at the river in the Braço de Prata area will connect with the Parque Ribeirinho Oriente, next to the River Tagus.

To the north, Parque da Belavista connects through the old golf course to Parque Vinícola de Lisboa, an area that will house a horticultural park and which connects to the Central Green Corridor and the Olivais Corridor.

Map of the Eastern Green Corridor

Located in the north of Lisbon, when fully completed it will cover more than 150 hectares of green areas.

It provides a link between the Monsanto Forest Park and the Ameixoeira Valley Park, adjacent to the regional ecological structure, namely the Várzea de Loures area, which stretches over 1000 hectares, following the Trancão River to its mouth on the River Tagus.

It presents solutions of continuity that contrast with larger green spaces. The following stand out;

• Quinta da Granja Urban Park, in Benfica;
• Quinta do Bom Nome public green spaces;
• Quinta da Alfarrobeira;
• Jardim da Luz, Quinta das Carmelitas and all the non-private green spaces in the parish of Carnide;
• Carnide Horticultural Park near Bairro Padre Cruz;
• Quinta da Nossa Senhora da Paz Park, in Lumiar;
• Vale da Ameixoeira Urban Park, in Santa Clara;
• Thecycle bridge over Calçada de Carriche, which connects Quinta dos Alcoutins to Vale da Ameixoeira and Quinta de Santa Clara.

The Green Park for the future Feira Popular de Lisboa, in Carnide, is also under construction.

In the same way, the works underway to upgrade the historic core of Carnide and Paço do Lumiar are important areas of heritage consolidation with public and private green spaces, forming part of the urban fabric:

• The Vale do Forno Urban Park, an important urban park of around 20 hectares that will transform a former sealed landfill into a park with a strong component of biodiversity promotion;
• The park linking Quinta dos Alcountins and Encosta do Olival, which will connect Vale do Forno to the cycle-pedestrian bridge over Calçada de Carriche;
• The section connecting the pedestrian bridge over the Calçada de Carriche and the Vale da Ameixoeira Urban Park;
• The connection between Calhariz de Benfica and the public square of Fonte Nova and the Monsanto Forest Park

Map of Lisbon's peripheral green corridor

Map of the northern peripheral green corridor

Map of the southern peripheral green corridor

The riverside corridor is a remarkable river-estuary interface, with enormous ecological importance and a sensitive area from the point of view of flood risks.

Heavily artificialized over centuries, it has been possible to open up the river to the city through a series of requalifications. The green structure takes on a discontinuous character at various points where, in addition to the artificialization of the banks, port activities take precedence.

Since the redevelopment resulting from Expo 98, there has been a return to the Tagus and the enjoyment of its banks, particularly in Parque das Nações, Largo José Saramago, Terreiro do Paço and Ribeira das Naus. In addition to the cycling link between Cais do Sodré and Torre de Belém, several riverside areas have been opened to the public and car parking has been abolished in front of the river, between Docas de Santo Amaro and Torre de Belém, and tree-lined corridors have been created. The Torre de Belém/Algés section welcomed the Champalimaud Foundation with new gardens and public spaces, in parallel with the demolition of the Docapesca area in Pedrouços. The cycling link between Santa Apolónia and Parque das Nações has made it possible to move between areas previously isolated by a continuous harbor front. The first phase of the Parque Ribeirinho Oriente in Marvila recently opened, an important link to the Corredor Verde Oriental.

The riverside corridor was given a boost in 2017 with the connection to the Loures waterfront, through the link between the two municipalities for the creation of a cycle-pedestrian bridge over the River Trancão and the adaptation of the banks with leisure routes. This link, together with the upgrading of the riverside walkways along the bank of the Beirolas Landfill, will allow this important bank to be enhanced.

Map of the riverside green corridor

Map of the central riverside green corridor

Map of the Ribeirinho Este green corridor

Map of the Ribeirinho Oriental green corridor

Map of the Ribeirinho Oeste green corridor

It represents an important structure superimposed on the city's water system and an important green axis, linking the flat area of the city and the riverside front, in the area from Campolide to Alcântara.

The corridor, which is currently under construction, will ultimately be entirely walkable or cyclable, without the use of motorized vehicles, and will also contribute to greater democratization of sustainable mobility in some areas that are somewhat isolated due to the surrounding obstacles.

It articulates objectives of ecological importance, related to the regularization of the water system, the recovery and increase of vegetation cover, ecological continuity with the Monsanto Forest Park and the use of recycled water. The intervention covers around 13 hectares, over more than 3 km, harmonizing: cycle-pedestrian corridors, new green spaces, more and better lighting, the use of recycled water for irrigation, urban equipment and more than 700 new trees.

The intervention is divided into five major segments:
Avenida de Ceuta
Águas Livres Aqueduct
Bairro da Liberdade - Campolide Station
Quinta da Bela Flor Urban Park
Quinta do Zé Pinto Urban Park

Map of the Vale de Alcântara green corridor