Where the industry led them: urban growth of the Marvila and Beato boroughs since 1835

Abstract

Up to the second quarter of the 19th century, Marvila and Beato were farming districts at Lisbon’s eastern border, courtyards for the leisure of the aristocratic classes and places of ecclesiastic seclusion, along with their lengthy cultivated properties. With the  industry’s arrival, a new path begins for these boroughs: the old convents, after the extinction in Portugal of all religious orders, are  reborn as industrial sites; working-class housing multiplies. With increasing industrial growth and the settling of large warehouses  in the region, the landscape thickened, with embankments which brought a whole new scale. At the end of the 20th century, the  industry lost its pace, and the riverside Marvila and Beato became deserted. Presently, a return is on the way to this (almost)  forgotten boroughs. This essay follows the region’s urban development using its old cartography, attempting to foresee urban revitalization from the indelible marks of a growth led by the industry’s pace.