Unlike some European countries, high-rise housing estates have been quite neglected within the Portuguese research agenda. This is partially explained by one of its main national specificities: as many of these estates were developed by the private sector, their major target was the broad spectrum of the middle classes. Therefore, it was not identified as a research priority in the same way as social or illegal housing. Nevertheless, as an emblematic housing type of Lisbon’s suburbanisation that boomed in the (1974) Revolution period, its longitudinal study is an important tool to further knowledge of the social and urban history of contemporary Portugal. This article explores high-rise housing in Portugal (the context of its appearance, development and specificities) through the study of a paradigmatic case: Portela in the north periphery of Lisbon. This case is a contrast with the most visible trajectory of high-rise estates, marked by decay and embraced by stigma: therefore the article also focuses on analysing the factors, dynamics and indicators of its positive trajectory. Here, the analysis explores the context in which the estate developed, the social profile of its inhabitants, their perceptions of it and their daily-life practices by means of both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies.

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High-rise housing estates,Lisbon,Suburbanisation,Revolution,Modernity,Middle classes,Perceptions

• Social and Economic Geography - Social Sciences