Lisbon, the capital of Portugal has increasingly become a ‘mecca’ for European expats wishing to relocate. Attracted by sun, beaches, food, culture and a low cost of living, it has been ranked as the world’s third most livable city for foreigners. Inevitably, the results of this have been varied. Seen as a boost to the local economy, it also adds to property prices. It places strain on public services like health and transport, and is criticized repeatedly from a social sustainability standpoint.

Livable for many then, Lisbon is also a city of challenges for others. Like a multitude of other places across Europe, it has experienced epochs of deindustrialization, periods of population growth and decline, and varied phases of investment and disinvestment. It has had architectural and urban ‘golden ages’, as well as times of abandonment and degeneration. It has seen attempts at city boosterism, concerns about resilience and public health, efforts to improve its sustainability, and attempts to preserve its heritage. It has been a site of innovations in housing, and a place of social unrest.

In all this it is prototypical – a city that has documented the social and urban changes of recent times – whether they be Daniel Bell’s post-industrial society, Jane Jacob’s life and death of cities, or David Harvey’s city and social justice. It has echoed Richard Florida’s cultural city and reflects the traits of the smart city. It is the home of UNESCO world heritage sites and a place where public transport can be, and is, complicated and slow. It is a city and, as such, is contested.