Lisbon mayor Carlos Moedas on urban regeneration, the city’s soul and where he gets his ‘pastel de nata’

Lisbon has seen a remarkable urban transformation over the past decade. The city has become a hub for entrepreneurship and home for expats seeking the sun while record levels of tourism reflect the global interest. Mayor Carlos Moedas has been at the forefront of dealing with the challenges this cosmopolitan capital is facing, as he told Monocle at Mipim in Cannes.

Lisbon has become one of Europe’s most attractive cities. How do you deal with the welcome challenge of managing its growing appeal?
This is probably the biggest challenge you can have as a city. Attracting young talent is fantastic but you have to invest in social welfare to counterbalance the idea that if people come to your city, the real-estate prices increase. Since my first term I’ve maintained that for every euro the city invests in culture, innovation or technology, we need to invest tenfold in social welfare. For example, in Lisbon, people over 65 have a city health plan where they can call a doctor to their home for free. And we now own more than 22,000 apartments, which means that nearly 12 per cent of our population lives in housing owned by the municipality. That’s not just social housing but also affordable housing, so that professionals can afford their rent and are able to live in the city. Nowadays social welfare is much more dependent on cities than it is on the national government. That’s the most important ingredient for innovation, for technology and for creativity.

Urban regeneration is happening at a rapid pace. How do you balance keeping tradition while promoting a vision for a more modern Lisbon?
Lisbon is unique. When I compare it to other cities there’s something that you can’t describe, almost like the soul of the city. As its mayor it’s crucial [that I] maintain that identity. So we’ve created different programmes; there’s one to protect historic shops and another for owners of small libraries. One of the most successful initiatives is a programme in which we loan spaces for free to locals who might want to start a business in their neighbourhood. Some have become cafés, others tailors or small independent shops. These shopfronts would otherwise be empty and by helping people to create their own businesses, we are adding to the identity of the city. 

Lisbon has invested significantly in waterfront redevelopment in the past 15 years, embracing the Tejo river with museums and reimagining old industrial buildings. Is there more to come?
Yes. There’s still a lot to be done. The first thing, and this is probably the biggest one, is a bit of my own dream for Lisbon – to properly connect the city to the waterfront. We have a train that comes from Estoril into Lisbon and essentially puts a cut between the city centre and the river – I want to add infrastructure to move this below ground so that people can walk from one side to the other. But that’s a 10-year project that can’t be done in a day. Then I want to turn to transportation. We are building the first new tramline since the 1960s to connect the centre of Baixa with a new park to truly make the east of the city alive and kicking. Lisbon is at the top of its game so we have to be careful with the next steps. It’s more difficult to stay on top than it is to get there.

As you return to the waterfront, how are you adding resiliency to these projects so that Lisbon is able to endure the risks posed by the climate crisis?
We have [implemented] one of the biggest adaptation climate change works in Europe today. Since 2022 we have invested more than €150m to build two large tunnels that run under the city to help manage the flow of water – one of them is five kilometers long and has just been completed. This means that when it rains, the water is redirected to the tunnels and we don’t have floods. I’m very proud of it because very few cities are doing this kind of adaptation and the work is invisible to the eye. All that people know is that we don’t have floods but they don’t know why. That takes a bit of courage.

A flash point for many cities is tourism management. How do you mitigate against overtourism as a city leader?
Lisbon has roughly 575,000 residents but there are a million people that come into the city every day, with tourists being about 40,000 of them. We’ve redesigned the tourism tax: not only have we increased it to €4 per night but, for the first time ever, cruise ships are now also paying the tourist tax for each passenger. 

One of the strategies that we used was looking at the fact that not everyone is going to be in the same place at the same time. So we’ve created what we describe as a journey into contemporary and modern art next to the river, with the creation of two new museums: one [dedicated to] the works of Julião Sarmento, the other of Almada Negreiros. And this is all about getting tourists to different parts of town. That’s the only way you can manage the flow and have rules. We also cut 6,000 licences for short-term lettings and implemented strict regulations so that there will be a maximum of 10 Airbnbs for every 100 regular [housing options]. At the moment [the ratio is] 65 short-term rentals per 100 flats. That’s totally excessive and needs to be reduced.

What’s your favourite neighbourhood for a Sunday walk?
Alvalade, which is a 15-minute neighbourhood where you have everything within walking distance. It’s a bit removed from the city centre but you get all the best that Lisbon has to offer.

What’s the best way to commute in Lisbon?
I take a lot of public transport and I make a point of travelling by bus every Friday. It’s the best time of my entire day and I learn a lot. I love the 711 bus.

Where do you go for a coffee?
I usually start my mornings with a nice cappuccino at a place right next to city hall called Fábrica, which has a very international crowd. And then at midday, I go to the typical small establishment for my daily pastel de nata and café [espresso].

What’s your favourite thing about being mayor of Lisbon?
The people of Lisbon. I’ve had amazing moments as mayor but I’ve also had difficult moments, and the people of the city were always by my side – even those that didn’t vote for me. We have amazing people and when you’re a foreigner and you come to Lisbon, you always feel like you belong because lisboetas make you feel welcome. There are very few places like that.

To explore Lisbon properly, consult Monocle’s City Guide.