Introduction

This book is developed as an output of the research project ‘MetroPublicNet – Building the foundations of a Metropolitan Public Space Network to support the robust, low-carbon and cohesive city: Projects, lessons and prospects in Lisbon’. In it, you may find an original approach on the understanding and prospect of public space and its encompassing design, aiming to add on accumulated memory and knowledge through a theoretical and creative process. Using Lisbon Metropolitan Area (LMA) as an entry point to a wider discussion on public space territorial role, the research starting question is simple: how can we deliver a more integrated approach to public space development that contributes to the cohesive structuring and qualification of the metropolitan territory? With a diverse range of authors, actively engaged in academic research and professorship, in design practice and in policy-oriented roles, the book combines empirically grounded research on recent patterns of public space development in the past 25 years, with an open, critical, and prospective inquiry on its potential as a consistent and multidimensional territorial network.