Background Study of the Bid submitted to URBON Programme by the Commercial and Industrial Association of Lousada

The study has been conceived as the background report of the Commercial Urbanism Project of the municipality of Lousada, submitted by the Commercial and Industrial Association of Lousada to the URBCON programme. It encompassed the analysis of the commercial core zone of the small town, organized around the following elements: (i) characterization and assessment of the commercial buildings and of their physical and architectural conditions (with a GIS data base and associated maps); (ii) survey and analysis of the surrounding area, involving public space, accessibilities and existing urban infrastructures; l(iii) assessment of the existing and potential commercial demand. This diagnosis led to the positioning guidelines for the traditional commerce of Lousada in the regional context and also to the strategies targeted at fixing consumers and markets. The study also indicates some global intervention priorities and more concrete proposals involving physical as well as immaterial and organizational investments. The action plan is organized around four axis, targeted at improving the match between supply and actual and potential demand and at reinforcing the position of this commercial structure relatively to other competing structures. The final programme also encompassed investment proposals towards the public space to be developed by the municipality and detailed tables about interventions and investments in each of the targeted buildings to be submitted to the URBON funding by their promoters.