The inaugural session of the Identity programming track aims to outline a synthetic framework that captures some of the key social and political dynamics underlying the shaping of the Campanhã area, using specific points in space to reveal the relationship between different historical periods and social and political logics. Starting from Rua de São Roque da Lameira and a discussion of what this street represents in the city’s urban expansion, the route seeks to demonstrate the role that eastern Porto played, throughout the 20th century, in shaping the existing city, focusing specifically on the significance that successive generations of housing policies—promoted by the central government and local authorities—had in configuring the city’s physical and social space.

Over the course of a few hundred meters, this tour allows participants to discover very different ways in which public housing policy has been implemented in the city and across the country. Beyond the evidence of these policies, the discussion generated along the way will help participants understand the underlying disputes and achievements and see how major priorities, turning points, and hesitations in state policy have been inscribed in the streets of Campanhã that we will visit.