Real Estate / Portugal
Lisbon, a city that moves and grows
With new means of transport and points of interest, Lisbon is in full expansion.
Last October, Lime’s electronic scooters arrived in Lisbon. Proof of a city hungry for novelties, they were an instant success. A year earlier, GIRA self-service bicycles were added to the city’s countless Segways, tuk-tuks and electric cars. The municipality also promises 200km of cycle paths by 2020, the creation of many green spaces and, beginning this summer, major redevelopment of the metro. All these novelties have one thing in common. They are clean and modern and have come to shake the charm of the immortal streetcar in a whirlwind of innovation. Lisbon has begun to move.
The main reason is simple. The city is booming. With 23 million tourists visiting Portugal in 2017 and expatriates steadily increasing, it has no choice but to adapt. Stay innovative and on the move so as not to suffocate under the number. Modernize first, and then expand. To the east, to the west. Along the quays and towards Béato. On the other side of the Tagus. To extend ever further, ever more intelligently.
João Sousa Sousa, CEO of JPS Group, a large real estate investment fund, explains: “Lisbon is a small city whose outlying areas are barely five minutes from the center. It must position itself by offering in these areas quality products at highly competitive prices. In fact, each surrounding community is organized and positioned to become the most attractive pole at the exit of the city center. To the west are Carcavelos, inaugurated in September, and the Nova School of Business & Economics, a new ultra-innovative campus, which promises to offer its students “a quality of life out of the ordinary” and “a new way of learning.” On the other side of the city, to the east, Beato’s future creative hub, a huge 35,000m2 space dedicated to innovation companies and creative industries, is already spurring neighborhood prices. While along the river, new museums like the MAAT as well as the renovation of the quays have revived a long neglected area.
Finally, there is the other side of the Tagus where the new airport of Montijo will have to be set up to unload the current, arrived at almost saturation, and to energize a whole region. Without a doubt, the mayor of Seixal, one of the three municipalities of the Lisbon South Bay, alongside Almada and Barreiro, says: “It is obvious that Seixal has a great industrial and tourism potential. We expect more than 1 billion euros of investment in the coming months.” To encourage the installation of new companies, he has already started work on a single ticket, valid in the 18 municipalities of the metropolitan area. Lisbon South Bay is less than 20 minutes by boat from Lisbon city center, where you can enjoy splendid views. With the planned multiplication of the river lines, it should increasingly be understood as an integral part of the beautiful and growing Lisbon metropolis.
