Lisbon, Lisboa (FUA), Portugal
City population: 2679729
Duration: 2024 – 2024
Implementation status: Ongoing
Scale: Sub-microscale: Street scale (including buildings)
Project area: unknown
Type of area: Public Greenspace Area
Last updated: August 2024

The "Jardim do Eucaliptal" (Eucalyptus Garden) in Benfica is undergoing extensive renovations to improve its facilities and usability. Over time, the intensive urbanization of this neighbourhood has not left many traces of the historic eucalyptus forest typical of this area, but this urban park actively protects and maintains these old and heavy-trunk eucalyptus trees, growing amidst the park's more recent vegetation (Ref. 3). In the last few years, several trees have fallen, causing considerable damages to buildings and vehicles in the nearby area (July 2023), and leading to residents demanding financial compensations for damages and for the Lisbon City Council (CML) to take action for mitigating future problems (Ref. 5). The renovation project implementation, expected to last six months, includes refurbishing the children's playground, sports field, toilets, and amphitheatre, along with introducing a dog park and outdoor exercise equipment (Ref 1). The park, originally part of the Quinta das Palmeiras de Guerreiro Galla forest, remains a crucial green space in the area despite extensive urbanization (Ref 2). These renovations, with a budget of 180,000 euros, also address the maintenance of public street furniture, the pavement, and lighting infrastructure, ensuring that the park meets the growing needs of the local community (Ref 3). These activities aim to meet the growing needs of the local population and improve these urban green spaces so that the community can enjoy them to the fullest. (Ref. 4).

The image shows the park before its renovation.
Jardim do Eucaliptal
https://informacoeseservicos.lisboa.pt/contactos/diretorio-da-cidade/eucaliptal-de-benfica

Overview

Nature-based solution

  • Parks and urban forests
  • Pocket parks/neighbourhood green spaces

Key challenges

  • Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
  • Green space creation and/or management
  • Regeneration, land-use and urban development
  • Regulation of built environment
  • Health and well-being (SDG 3)
  • Creation of opportunities for recreation
  • Enabling opportunities for physical activity

Principal problems in Functional Urban Area (FUA)

  • Land use and Socio-economic change
  • Rapid urbanization
  • Other

Key priorities

Biodiversity (conservation and/or restoration), Social Justice and community

Focus

Maintenance and management of urban nature, Maintenance or upgrade of exisiting green spaces (e.g. parks), Ecological restoration of ecosystems, Ecological restoration of existing green spaces

Project objectives

1. Enhance the park’s role as a vital urban green space that fosters social cohesion and public well-being, making it more accessible and user-friendly for diverse community groups, including those with reduced mobility (Ref 1, Ref 3). 2. Promote environmental sustainability by enhancing biodiversity and creating microclimates through green infrastructure, such as repurposing water features into terraces and flowerbeds (Ref 1). 3. The project aims to meet the community's growing recreational needs by introducing new amenities like a dog park and outdoor exercise equipment (Ref 1).

Implementation activities

- improvement of existing infrastructure, including the refurbishment of the children's playground, sports field, toilets, changing rooms, and the amphitheatre. This is done to provide safer and more attractive spaces for visitor (Ref 1). - build new amenities, such as a dog park and outdoor exercise equipment, which cater to the diverse needs of the community. These additions are intended to strengthen the park's role as a multifunctional urban green space (Ref 1). - transformation of inactive water features into a terrace and flowerbed, contributing to both the visual appeal and the ecological value of the park by supporting biodiversity and creating microclimates (Ref 1). - improving accessibility and usability by maintaining street furniture, repairing pavement, and upgrading lighting. These efforts ensure that the park is more inviting and functional for all users, including those with reduced mobility (Ref 1, Ref 3). - improving park safety by enhancing the maintenance of the Eucalyptus trees (Ref.5)
Communities vulnerable to environmental hazards or climate change impacts
Yes

Specification of climate or environmentally vulnerable communities

Other

Main beneficiaries

  • Citizens or community groups

Governance

Management set-up

  • Government-led

Type of initiating organisation

  • Local government/municipality

Participatory approaches/ community involvement

  • Other

Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project

The works are initiated, overseen and paid for by the local Parish Council of the Benfica neighbourhood. (Ref 2) In 2023, citizens had a meeting with Benfica parish and the Mayor of Lisbon, where they had the opportunity to share the problems they faced with the falling of public trees into private property and demanded attention to this local problem. While the citizens didn't actively participated in the renovation work, their concerns were heard by local officials (Ref. 5).

Project implemented in response to ...

... an EU policy or strategy? No
... a national policy or strategy? No
... a local policy or strategy? No

Type of enablers

Unknown

Financing

Total cost

€100,000 - €500,000

Source(s) of funding

  • Public local authority budget

Type of funding

  • Direct funding (grants, subsidies, or self-financed projects by private entities)

Non-financial contribution

No

Impacts and Monitoring

Environmental impacts

  • Green space and habitat
  • Increased green space area
  • Expected increased green space area

Economic impacts

  • Unknown

Socio-cultural impacts

  • Social justice and cohesion
  • Increased opportunities for social interaction
  • Expected increased opportunities for social interaction
  • Health and wellbeing
  • Gain in activities for recreation and exercise
  • Expected gain in activities for recreation and exercise
  • Improved physical health
  • Expected improved physical health
  • Safety
  • Improved community safety to climate-related hazards
  • Expected improved community safety to climate-related hazards

Type of reported impacts

Presence of formal monitoring system

Unknown

Presence of indicators used in reporting

No evidence in public records

Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports

No evidence in public records

Availability of a web-based monitoring tool

No

Potential risks of implementation and trade-offs

Unknown

References

1.
(n.d.). Eucaliptal de Benfica. Accessed on August 13, 2024, [Source link];
2.
Barbedo, R. (n.d.). Jardim do Eucaliptal, em Benfica, entra em obras para renovar parque infantil e campo de jogos. TimeOut, Accessed on August 13, 2024, [Source link];
3.
(2016). Anterior•Seguinte Jardim do Eucaliptal de Benfica. Accessed on August 13, 2024, [Source link];
4.
JFBenfica (2024). Official Instagram of Benfica (municipality parish in Lisbon). Accessed on August 23, 2024, [Source link];
5.
Antunes, José (2024). As árvores morrem de pé. Lisbon: Accessed on August 23, 2024, [Source link];
naturescapes bannerInformation about this nature-based solution was collected as part of the Naturescapes project funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement No 101084341.