Lisbon's Social Housing Crisis: Middle-Class Residents Forced into Periphery Neighborhoods

Economic Crisis and Rising Housing Prices Transform Lisbon's Outskirts

The economic crisis and soaring housing prices are driving new residents into Lisbon's peripheral social housing neighborhoods, displacing them from middle-class areas and creating feelings of exclusion among these newcomers.

Activists Highlight Impact on Social Neighborhoods

During a tribute to Odair Moniz, a 43-year-old immigrant killed by Portuguese police a year ago in the Zambujal neighborhood (Amadora), activists from the Vida Justa movement emphasized that the atmosphere in social housing areas is being affected by persistent attacks on minorities, immigrants, and residents in poorer zones.

"We want things to improve, but it's difficult," admitted Ricardo Sequeira, a resident of Mem Martins who participated in the tribute, which included an evocative mural.

New Residents from Unexpected Backgrounds

José Carlos, a resident of Zambujal, noted that the neighborhood has been welcoming new residents from areas not typically associated with the periphery.

"Rents are extremely high, and some people end up needing to move here who weren't used to living in a social housing neighborhood," he stated.

"I think these people then become witnesses that the neighborhood isn't abnormal at all and is a perfectly normal area where you can live peacefully and raise a family without any problems," José Carlos highlighted.

Shifting Social Fabric Due to Housing Unaffordability

Ricardo Sequeira acknowledged that the social fabric of some neighborhoods is changing thanks to the arrival of people who can't afford housing in city centers.

"A social housing neighborhood is a place of constant change. We have a Sintra or Cascais line, with its dormitory condition, where people don't form a relationship with the territory," but they end up pressuring housing prices as well.

Loss of Middle-Class Security

"These middle classes have left that comfortable middle-class position, which was an illusory position," because "a few laws are enough" to "remove that illusion of security," stated Ricardo Sequeira.

"Class privilege can be taken away very easily, and that's what we're noticing today, with the increase in housing prices or the constant stigmatization of various types of immigrants," accused the leader.

Nationality and Legitimacy Concerns

"Even the issue of nationality is a question of legitimacy that is granted but can also be taken away, as the new law shows," the activist further emphasized.

Future Visibility of Periphery Issues

Therefore, Ricardo Sequeira predicts that there may be "more visibility of the problems of the neighborhoods" in the future, because "other people who weren't here appear."

"They're not Black, they're not immigrants, and they start living in the neighborhoods, and then maybe politicians will pay attention" to the peripheries, he added.