Lisbon is on the verge of a historic transformation. With 2.9 million residents, Greater Lisbon is already Europe’s 11th largest urban area—but with the Parque Cidades do Tejo vision it will climb into the top 10. At the heart of this plan lies the creation of a two-shore metropolis, linking the north and south banks of the Tagus with four crossings instead of today’s two.
The South Bank—Almada, Seixal, and Barreiro—will host the new international airport and a high-speed rail hub connecting Lisbon to Porto and Spain. This will inevitably shift the city’s growth axis, with projections that the South Bank could become Portugal’s third-largest city within 30 years.
Ambitious flagship projects are already outlined: an Ocean Campus on the north bank to activate the waterfront, and long-term airport-linked developments set to transform mobility, housing, and investment. As António Ramalho, Chairman at Lusoponte, stressed in his keynote speech during the Summit: “This is not a wish—it is inevitable. Lisbon will become a city on two banks.”
Lisbon’s Two-Shore Future: Investors React to Ambition and Opportunity
Moderated by António Gil Machado, Partner at Grupo Iberinmo, the roundtable opened with one unavoidable theme: scale. The Parque Cidades do Tejo vision, with its new airport, high-speed rail, and river crossings, is nothing short of transformative. The panelists agreed that the ambition is both necessary and overdue.
Cristina Santos, Executive Director of Property Management & Leasing at Sonae Sierra, stressed that the plan comes “already late” given Lisbon’s housing shortage and mobility challenges. For her, the decisive factor is not only the ambition but also the ability to integrate housing, climate resilience, and governance mechanisms over the long horizon of a 10–15 year project. “This is 55 times the scale of Expo,” she reminded, “so it needs dynamic governance and private investor input to ensure flexibility as needs evolve.”
Miguel Santana, Board Member at Fidelidade Property, took a more personal angle. He underlined his belief that Lisbon’s south bank expansion is inevitable. “We need to go for it,” he argued, calling infrastructures like the third Tagus crossing “mandatory.” Without them, he warned, international capital will hesitate. He also highlighted his personal connection to Almada, suggesting that Margueira could be a natural starting point: close to Lisbon and ready for visible impact.
Pedro Coelho, CEO of Square Asset Management, added historical perspective, comparing today’s challenge with Expo 1998. Then, as now, public will, zoning clarity, and fast licensing were the keys. “If those KPIs align, investors will follow,” he said, pointing out that Square remains location-agnostic: wherever there is demand and long leases, capital will deploy. Coelho also emphasized that infrastructure must move first—airport, bridge, and rail—to unlock private momentum.
From the advisory side, Alberto Henriques, Associate Partner at Deloitte, underlined that trust will be decisive. “Stability, predictability, transparency, and governance are the words that matter,” he said, stressing that multidisciplinary teams and clear KPIs must guide the process. For him, the new airport and high-speed rail are the true game changers: “They will unlock the potential of the south bank and mitigate Lisbon’s current housing constraints.”
Returning to the role of private capital, Cristina Santos insisted that investors must not just be financiers, but partners in shaping sustainability, community integration, and technological adaptation over decades. “Otherwise we risk building new centralities that don’t match the needs of future generations,” she warned.
Miguel Santana echoed this by noting that institutional investors like Fidelidade are already integrating infrastructure into their long-term vision. “We are talking about Lisbon’s expansion into its second city. We will need to commit time, effort, and capital, but the opportunity is too important to ignore,” he said.
The discussion also circled back to sequencing. Pedro Coelho and Alberto Henriques agreed that the airport and high-speed rail must come first, acting as catalysts for south bank development. Once mobility is unlocked, other projects—from Margueira to Barreiro—will follow. Cristina Santos pointed to Sonae Sierra’s own investment in Barreiro as evidence that private capital is already positioning itself for this shift.
As the debate closed, the consensus was clear: Lisbon’s two-shore transformation is inevitable. But its success will depend on delivering infrastructure early, embedding governance and sustainability, and ensuring public and private sectors move in lockstep. As Alberto Henriques concluded, “Public vision without private trust cannot succeed—but together, Lisbon can become a true metropolitan hub on the European stage.”