Green Gentrification in Lisbon (Portugal): A Study about Marvila’s Riverfront

Lisbon is considered a green European city. However, some greening projects have generated extra rent and increased the prices of new urban developments, especially along the Tagus River, indicating a possible green gentrification process. Green gentrification is a recent concept designed to understand direct and indirect displacement and exclusion in an area after some environmental requalification project, the territorialization of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and parks. A delimited case study was conducted in the area of Braço de Prata/Matinha in Marvila parish to recognize the existence and materialization of this contemporary type of gentrification in Lisbon. This new and original research was based on the analysis of references about green gentrification, statistical data analysis, real estate prices, and field observation. Absence of direct displacement data and interviews are acknowledged limitations. Marvila is an uneven area in the city, including many concentrated social housing projects as well as redevelopments along its riverfront with high premium residential units after the reconversion of a brownfield into a greenfield. A new urban green park changed the urban plan, which eliminated heavy traffic, connected the city with the river, and created the possibility of a permanent view of the Tagus. After the requalification and the implementation of environmental amenities, the local population, elderly working-class communities who had lived with the surrounding industries, pollution, and contamination for decades, could not afford to live in the area due to the high prices of green and sustainable housing based on green gentrification, which is an environmental injustice.