NoVOID - Ruins and Vacant Lands in the Portuguese Cities

NoVOID is a research project that seeks to theorize about ruination and to investigate wastelands. Developing appropriate planning solutions for urban derelicts and vacant lands is currently a major challenge for urban planning. The 'smart decline approach' sustains that adaptive strategies that do not understand city shrinkage as a necessarily negative fact and look to take advantage of its positive aspects are possible. On the other hand, reflecting on the qualities of urban porosity, discussing whether that porosity is compatible with the compact city, and investigating how this integration can be done seems necessary. NoVOID aims to contribute to those key points of discussion. The project is being carried out by geographers, architects and landscape architects affiliated to the University of Lisbon and to the University of Minho, and is funded by the Portuguese Research Council (FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia).