A B R FESTIVAL

A partner's practice · Barbot Bernardo, Porto · TY-CO

"We might think the housing crisis is all about houses, but no." Our TY-CO partner Barbot Bernardo argues that rising rents in Porto threaten not only people looking for a home but the thousands of small independent shops, cafés and studios that have kept the city centre alive for decades, and that are often the only diversity on streets dominated by chains.

Their point is simple: independents are the best placemakers a city could wish for. More tourists do not make up for higher rents, so owners have to sharpen their management skills just to make sure the landlord is not the only winner of their hard work.

Bombarda, Porto's "Gallic village"

Since 2014 Barbot Bernardo has worked with dozens of small food, retail and creative businesses, some of them through a free mentoring programme for social projects. Much of that work is concentrated in Bombarda, Porto's art district: central and dynamic, still largely free of high-street chains, and already feeling the pressure of the property market.

The examples are small and practical. A coworking space was repositioned as a creative hub for the neighbourhood, with new studios and a bar. A book-binding workshop was helped to find a business model. At Hakko House, a café and restaurant in the district, a few working sessions led to a new layout and to opening the big window onto the street.

Why it matters for TY-CO

TY-CO keeps returning to the same question from different angles: who gets to stay in the city, and who keeps it lively? In Nicosia, OPU and Pame Kaimakli answer with streets and shared tables; in Lisbon, Arroz Estúdios with a cultural association. Barbot Bernardo's answer is the small independent business, supported to survive, as part of a neighbourhood's cultural life.

Read the full post on Barbot Bernardo's journal →

Maps: Barbot Bernardo

TY-CO (communities in conversation) · ABR – Alternative Brains Rule · Co-funded by the European Union

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however, those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.