The worsening of inequalities in contemporary society and territory justify the growing relevance of these issues in the scientific debate focused on urban and territorial studies. This thesis seeks to extend and deepen the knowledge regarding the unequal condition of the Portuguese territory, having as a case-study the Lisbon Metropolitan Area. The developed research aims to: (i) typify and map urban polarization processes; (ii) frame the explanatory factors that explore these processes in terms of economic and political cycles; (iii) present the set of vulnerabilities and risks that affect the identified communities and territories. For this purpose, a mixed methodology was defined, including statistical analysis and spatial georeferencing techniques, which allowed for the interpretation of the metropolitan contrasts, as well as a combination of qualitative methods that enabled an approximation towards the daily reality of places and of their local actors. In the adopted methodological approach, its future usefulness as a support instrument for the definition of public policies and planning options was taken into account. Results show that the strong polarization of metropolitan territory relates to a set of socio-economic, environmental and institutional vulnerabilities. It is argued that these vulnerabilities are an outcome of peripheralisation processes generated within the scope of political and economic decisions. It is concluded, for the purpose of reinforcing the framework of territorial development policies aimed at reversing the observed context of socio-economic and spatial polarization, improving the quality of life of the populations and increasing the environmental sustainability of said territory.

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Lisbon Metropolitan Area,Polarization and Urban Inequality,Vulnerability,Peripheralisation,Public Polices and Territorial Planning

• Ciências Políticas - Ciências Sociais
• Geografia Económica e Social - Ciências Sociais
• Outras Humanidades - Humanidades