Immigrants in Lisbon: A cross-cultural comparison of the use of public spaces

Migration is a phenomenon of contemporary societies and it is a major political issue. However, while immigrants are becoming a noteworthy part of our society and cities, there has been little discussion as to how their presence affects the urban fabric, especially the use of public open spaces and even less is known about how, and in what way, such spaces may have an impact on immigrants. This research has been undertaken to increase, and then present, a better understanding of how public open spaces are being used and immigrants’ experiences of them. The case study focus is Portugal, with a particular research emphasis on the experience of immigrants from the three biggest communities: Brazil, Cape Verde and Ukraine. Self-completion questionnaires were collected among these nationalities (n=184) using snowball sampling. The collected data set aimed to explore users’ preferences, activities, barriers and favourite places. Descriptive analysis and logistic regressions were performed to analyse the data. This paper will present key findings from the questionnaires, focusing on cross-cultural differences and unveiling significant findings, such as: how nationality affects frequency of use (p<0,05); gender differences; how barriers such money (p<0,05) and lack of time (p<0,05) deter immigrants from visiting outdoor spaces; immigrants’ favourite places in Lisbon, and their landscape preferences, with a particular focus on the importance of music being played outdoors. These findings add to existing knowledge of public open space usage by providing greater in-depth cross-cultural analysis of particular immigrant communities of which little has been known, up to now