City management and citizenship building: contributions from the experience of the bip/zip programme in Lisbon

Abstract

In the production and management of cities, the promotion of active citizenship is on the rise, curiously at the same time as the affirmation of the neoliberal model of the city. This apparent contradiction will be discussed in this article, analysing in particular the Bairros de Intervenção Prioritária/Zonas de Intervenção Prioritária (BIP/ZIP) Programme, developed by the City of Lisbon (Portugal). The Programme aims to promote active citizenship, the capacity for self-organisation and the collective search for solutions, contribute to a positive image of these areas and create a climate favourable to entrepreneurship and local initiative. After thirteen editions of the BIP/ZIP, this article proposes the development of an overview and a preliminary evaluation of the Programme from which useful contributions can be extracted to reflect on the coherence between the results obtained and the objectives and mission initially defined. This assessment offers an opportunity to discuss the contradiction between the emergence of a neoliberal city marked by the erasure of public powers in urban regulation and management and the creation of decentralization mechanisms in social and urban intervention processes. The article concludes that, although public participation is guaranteed by legislation and its application is encouraged by public policies, its effective transformative potential can be questioned.