Martim Moniz at the Lisbon Migrantscape
The Mouraria neighbourhood is currently one of Lisbon's zones defined by its social, ethnic, cultural and population diversity, supporting an expressive number of residents and works of foreign origin. The migration movements are an important element in the development and transformation of specific urban areas of the city of Lisbon, as a relevant agent of social, economical and spatial change. This analysis will attempt to showcase the affectation of such change in the urban landscape - permanent and transient - and in the image of the city. Therefore, an effort was made to identify and study the morphology, aside with the social and symbolic elements which contribute to the makeshift of the current urban landscape and as a result of the impact by local migrant groups and against the perception of local agents (residents, shop owners, and local visitors). The Martim Moniz area, emerge as a visible stage of Lisbon's “migrantscape”.
This acknowledgement of the urban landscape was created by the use of surveys with objective and subjective elements, resulting in the acknowledgement that despite the established urban morphology its use and landscape was subjected to a drastic change. In symbolic terms, the change of the name of this neighbourhood from Mouraria to a more commonly used name - Martim Moniz - was due to the signified attributes of this area. The current analysis explores a division seen from a social and cultural perspectives, by distinct interactions of cohabitation, sometimes of conflict, between populations of local and foreign origin. To note the important role taken by the migrant population in the redefinition of cultural behaviour connected to the urban renewal, and also to the socio-economic development of the Martim Moniz and the city of Lisbon.
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