What and whose right to the city? Insights from the participatory process for the renewal of the Martim Moniz Square in Lisbon

When in the late 1960s Henri Lefebvre theorised the concept of the “right to the city”, western democracies were facing a disruptive crisis of legitimacy. New ambitions came to the fore, and cities were put at the centre stage of the political debate for aggregating the cry and demand of local communities against the perceived capitalist drift. Changes of power relations were envisaged through the active participation of citizens, with an emphasis on the role of grassroots groups in reclaiming their right to the city. In the last few decades, scholars have shed light on the impacts of social mobilisations in this field, while little attention has been paid on the role of invited spaces of participation. To fill in this gap, this paper focuses on the implementation of the participatory process for the renewal of the Martim Moniz Square launched by the Lisbon city council in the end of 2020. The process was initiated in the aftermath of spread political mobilisations against pro-developers and pro-tourism measures in the city. In particular, protests raised against the perceived "privatisation" of the Square through the construction of a new market. The participatory process promoted by the city council aimed to capitalise knowledge and know-how in the field of participatory democracy, while bridging with the new constituted Movement claiming for the creation of a garden in the Square. The opening of the invited space of participation was structured in three main stages: (i) data collection through survey questionnaire and focus groups; (ii) citizen drawings collection; (iii) renewal based on citizen inputs. Main results point to the shared perception of the Square as an urban “crossroad” in need of more green areas. Alongside, citizens highlighted the need for new public facilities, cultural and multicultural activities, mobility solutions, and improved cleanliness and safety. The paper discusses data by unlocking three key emerging issues. First, I will discuss what right to the city is claimed in Lisbon and by whom, by delving into the main agencies and features of the socio-political environment. Second, I will pinpoint the main trade-offs connected to the degrees of representiveness of social movements and the representation of most vulnerable groups in the city. Third and last, I will reflect on the (new) frontiers of citizen participation in urban controversies.