From the 25th April 1974, year of the Portuguese Carnation Revolution, the integration of the right to housing according to the Portuguese Constitution fuelled the process of eradicating precarious living conditions felt by many vulnerable families and communities in Portugal, namely in terms of housing quality and comfort. In order to combat the sprawl of informal dwelling structures that existed in Portuguese cities, such as tents and shanties, municipalities and public authorities formalised their eradication and implemented new housing insertion policies. These policies were reflected by the creation of social housing in the Portuguese cities, which usually involved high rise tower blocks, with the aim of relocating as many economically disadvantaged families as possible. Many of these housing projects have since become known as "bairros sociais” (social housing neighbourhoods), and over time have become object of negative prejudice related to the emergence of problems associated with precarious living conditions, social exclusion, crime, etc.

Despite the efforts of public authorities and private associations supporting the combat of this prejudice, it has become increasingly clear that these problems are related to other wider ranging issues. Some of the main issues related to the social housing neighbourhoods in Portugal are: the generalisation of architectural options regarding space, formalised through a segregative paradigm; the peripheral and isolated location of these social housing from the cities’ urban structure; the resentment arising from the pressured rehousing that some of these communities were forced to endure due to urban planning and real estate market speculation; the insufficient adaptability of urban and architectural environments created to specific ways of living of the targeted communities; the lack of social amenities for integration; the lack of engagement of communities in the management and decision-making processes; and, the negative prejudice related to the association with crime and ethnic and social discrimination, which hampers dialogue.

Since the 1970s, several social housing neighbourhoods were built in Braga, out of which we would like to highlight three – Bairro Social das Enguardas, Bairro Social de Santa Tecla and Complexo Habitacional do Picoto – because they are good examples of this paradigm.

Bairro Social das Enguardas

This social housing neighbourhood dates back to 1976 and 1978. It consists of eighty-five 2, 3 and 4-room dwellings, distributed over eleven 4-storey buildings, designed to accommodate people who lived in precarious conditions in different areas of the city, most notably the mass rehousing of the residents of the now extinct social housing Bairro Araújo Carandá.

Bairro Social de Santa Tecla

This social housing development was built in 1979 at Quinta de Santa Tecla by the Fundo de Fomento da Habitação, a housing development fund created to relocate residents from the former Bairro Operário de Santa Tecla and also the illegal shanty towns in Lajes and Fujacal. It is composed of four housing blocks and houses about 450 people in a total of one hundred and eighty-two 2 and 3-room dwellings. This is the largest social housing development in the Municipality of Braga.

Complexo Habitacional do Picoto

It was built between 1997 and 1998 on the slope of Monte do Picoto hill to rehouse the gypsy community, who lived in shanties in Parque da Ponte (or Largo da Floresta), in Braga. This housing complex consists of fifty attached 2-storey dwellings with minimal habitable areas. The population of the Bairro Nogueira da Silva, a neighbourhood located near Picoto, opposed the construction of this housing development for the gipsy community alleging security issues, something which has been a motive for confrontation between these two neighbourhood communities to this day. This complex is isolated from the remaining urban network. It is marked by its fringe location and infrastructural problems.

Apart from the historical processes and specific problems of these three social housing neighbourhoods, it must be noted the presence of the gipsy community as a significant part of the whole community. It is also important to remember and to consider the fact that the negative image commonly associated with these specific neighbourhoods is also reflected by the stereotypes and prejudices arising from feelings of fear and insecurity that are still present in the Portuguese society regarding this particular community.

Transcribe Summer Lab aims to keep track of the historical and social context of the development of these social housing neighbourhoods in Braga, taking into account all the specific issues inherent to these places.