The World's Best Neighbouring Federation - Programmes

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1 urban REhABILITAtion programme Final Report June, 2004 Direcção-Geral do Desenvolvimento Regional

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3 INDEX PART I I - Introduction II - Framework... 7 III Financing Plan Initial Financial Programming Reallocation IV Management and Follow-up System National Management Local Management Follow-up V Financial Flows Transfers of the Subsidy to a Non-refundable Subsidy Transfers of the Subsidised Loan Payments to the Beneficiaries VI Global Financial Execution VII Evaluation

4 PART II Sub-programme 1 Setúbal ORUS/Urban Rehabilitation Programme Sub-programme 2 Moita Vale da Amoreira Sub-programme 3 Almada Nova Almada Velha...51 Sub-programme 4 Cascais Bairro da Torre e Cruz da Guia...59 Sub-programme 5 Sintra Núcleo Urbano Central de Agualva...67 Sub-programme 6 Vila Franca de Xira Bairro do Olival de Fora...75 Sub-programme 7 Coimbra Zona do Centro Histórico...83 Sub-programme 8 Espinho Marinhas de Silvalde...91 Sub-programme 9 Vila do Conde Caxinas e Poça da Barca Sub-programme 10 Guimarães Zona de Couros Sub-programme 11 Braga Zona do Centro Historico Sub-programme 12 Co-ordination and Technical Assistance

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7 I INTRODUCTION In May of 1992 was signed in the city of Porto between the European Community, the European Coal and Steel Community, the Member States of the EC, the Republic of Iceland, the Principality of Liechtenstein and the Kingdom of Norway, the Agreement relating to the European Economic Area the text of which is published in the edition of the Official Journal of the European Communities of January Within the terms of the provisions in article 116 of the EEA Agreement, a Financial Mechanism was created with the objective of reducing the economic and social disparities between the regions belonging to the contracting parties. The Financial Mechanism provided financial aid in the form of grants and discounted interest, granting a mandate to this effect to the European Investment Bank in accordance with article 1 of Protocol 38, annexed to the Agreement. This financial aid, to a total of million Euros of EIB subsidised loan and 500 million Euros in the form of grants, was awarded to the countries of the cohesion, Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain (objective 1 regions). The distribution of this amount among these countries was the responsibility of the European Community. Portugal was awarded 21% of the global donation, which represented 105 million Euros of grant and 315 million Euros of loan, to be used in the period 1993 to 1997, subsequently extended to The projects supported were: Alameda II Station Urban Rehabilitation of Porto (APOR) Waste Water Treatment Station at Portinho da Costa - Almada Urban Rehabilitation of Alte Urban Rehabilitation Programme This Report only focuses on the Urban Rehabilitation Programme, the pre-application for which was presented to the European Investment Bank in May of After lengthy negotiations with the EIB, with the EFTA Financial Mechanism Committee and with the European Commission, an agreement was approved and registered through two contracts, one established between the Portuguese Republic and the EIB and another between the Caixa Geral de Depósitos, the borrower of loan, and the EIB, both signed on the 19 th of December

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9 II FRAMEWORK Given that Communication no. 94/C 180/02 from the European Commission to the Member States which launched the Community Initiative URBAN I, was very well received by Portuguese Municipalities, with many adhering to it, the Portuguese Government took the initiative, within the framework of the EFTA Financial Mechanism, of negotiating the allocation of a part of the amount provided for Portugal to a Programme with the same objectives of the URBAN I Community Initiative. It was in this context that the General Directorate of Regional Development launched a tender on the 11th of September 1995 aimed at the Portuguese Municipalities of the Metropolitan Areas of Lisbon and Porto and of other zones of Mainland Portugal or of the Autonomous Regions where there may be cities with around one hundred thousand inhabitants. The jury, made up from representatives of the DGDR, which presided, the Ministry of Territorial Planning and Administration, the Ministry of Employment and Social Security, the Ministry of Public Works, Communications and Transport, the Ministry of the Environment and also of independent specialists, selected 11 of the 18 bids presented in accordance with the following criteria: - Gravity of the existing problems; - Conformity with the Programme s objectives; - Quality and technical viability of the proposals; - Options and priorities established in the respective development plans and urban planning; - Existence of other interventions in hand, with a direct or indirect impact on the bidding zones; - Conditions for the effective operation of a structure of local management of the operation. Once the bids were approved, the DGDR, in collaboration with the Beneficiary Municipalities, prepared the technical document of the Programme which would be handed in March of 1996 to the EIB, in its capacity of administrator of the EFTA Financial Mechanism, and to the European Commission. The decision to approve it was taken in the meeting of the Financial Mechanism Committee, held on the 31 st of October 1996, and the contracts were signed in December of the same year. On the same date, the subsidiary contracts celebrated between the DGDR and the Beneficiary Local Authorities were signed, which related to grant and between these and the Caixa Geral de Depósitos in relation to loan. Following the model established for the URBAN Community Initiative, this Programme aimed to 7

10 support the revitalisation and requalification of urban areas city centres and their periphery - with marked signs of depression and degradation, with serious problems of economic and urban decline, unemployment and deterioration of the quality of life and the accumulation of the phenomena of social exclusion and a lack of safety. For the purpose it was proposed to concentrate a series of investments of a material and immaterial nature in a well defined zone, which, in an integrated manner, would contribute towards overcoming the most severe physical, economic and social needs, supporting the creation of companies, improving infrastructures and the environment, providing appropriate training, providing social equipment, encouraging concerted action between national and local authorities and strengthening the role of local partnerships with the end objective of contributing towards an improvement in the quality of life of the population in the zone. The Programme s structure created a sub-programme which corresponded to each intervention zone, each with its specific objectives, to which another sub-programme was added relating to Coordination and Technical Assistance, the executor and beneficiary of which was the General Directorate of Regional Development. The approved sub-programmes were the following: Sub-programme 1 Setúbal ORUS Sub-programme 2 Moita Vale da Amoreira Sub-programme 3 Almada Nova Almada Velha Sub-programme 4 Cascais Bairro da Torre e Cruz da Guia Sub-programme 5 Sintra Núcleo Urbano Central de Agualva Sub-programme 6 Vila Franca de Xira Bairro do Olival de Fora Sub-programme 7 Coimbra Zona do Centro Histórico Sub-programme 8 Espinho Marinhas de Silvalde Sub-programme 9 Vila do Conde Caxinas e Poça da Barca Sub-programme 10 Guimarães Zona de Couros Sub-programme 11 Braga Zona do Centro Histórico Sub-programme 12 Co-ordination and Technical Assistance 8

11 Each sub-programme was, in turn, structured into Measures which reflected the diversity of their start situations and the different objectives pursued. The range of foreseen measures varied, although almost all the Sub-programmes opted to present the following six measures: - Physical and Environmental Infrastructures - Social equipment - Creation of Economic Activities - Professional Training and Job Creation - Local Dynamisation - Management and Technical Assistance The intervention zones fall into two major categories: Suburban Areas These correspond to large concentrations of underprivileged population, in some cases resulting from public rehousing processes which, as they did not have the minimum socio-urbanistic conditions, became stigmatised areas in a break-away situation with the city they are part of. In some cases they are dormitory zones with no community life, worsened by their connotation with marginal activities. The intervention zones of Setúbal, Moita, Cascais, Sintra, Vila Franca de Xira, Espinho and Vila do Conde are examples of this kind of problem. Historic Centres These correspond to older zones where the population is undergoing processes of isolation due to the risk of depopulation, the physical degradation of housing, buildings at risk and economic decline accompanied by problems of unemployment and marginality. Examples of this type are the intervention zones of Almada, Coimbra, Guimarães and Braga. While the intervention areas can be reduced to two types of problems, each of them has its own distinct peculiarities. The way the Local Authorities dealt with the problems also gave rise to quite different interventions, as can be seen in Part II of this report. 9

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13 III FINANCING PLAN 3.1 Initial financial programming The financing plan initially agreed totalled million PTE, to be borne by grant, by EIB loan and by national sources where local authority financing stands out. The initial financial programming is set out in Table I. In accordance with the financing contract signed between the Portuguese Republic and the EIB, the grant may not exceed 48% of the total cost of the Programme, with two limits being fixed for it, PTE, or Euros. Within the terms of the financing contract signed between the EIB and the Caixa Geral de Depósitos, the borrower of the loan, a loan was granted with double the maximum limit of PTE or Euros with discounted interest of 2% per year, with reference to the interest rate of the EIB for ten year loans, including a payment free period of two years. The contracts also determined that the amount financed by the Programme, increased by possible funds from the European Union could not represent more than 90% of the final cost of each intervention. 3.2 Financial reallocation Due to the long approval process of the Programme, to the increase in the cost of the projects included in it, to the unforeseen difficulties encountered in situ and to the innovative characteristics of the Programme, a financial reallocation proposal accompanied by explanatory notes prepared by the Town Halls and a summary note prepared by the DGDR were sent to the EIB and to the EFTA Financial Mechanism Committee on the 18 th of November In this note the fundamental issue of the proposal was stressed, that is, the maintenance of the amounts of grant and of the loan attributed to the Programme, making the assurance that the increase in costs foreseen in the financial reallocation would be fully borne by the Beneficiary Local Authorities, as set out in Table II. The technical assistance component was also reallocated, with the DGDR releasing Euros of grant attributed to Sub-programme

14 Final report 12 Total Total EFTA Mechanism National Public Sector Private Cost Public Total Grant EIB Loan Total Central Local Other Sector SUB-PROGRAMMES Sector Govern Authority Setúbal - ORUS Moita - Vale da Amoreira Almada - Nova Almada Velha Cascais - Bairro da Torre/Cruz da Guia Sintra - Núcleo Urbano Central de Agualva Vila Franca de Xira - Bairro do Olival de Fora Coimbra - Zona do Centro Histórico Espinho - Marinhas de Silvaldes Vila do Conde - Caxinas e Poça da Barca Guimarães - Zona de Couros Braga - Zona do Centro Histórico Co-ordination and Technical Assistance TOTAL Euros Table I - Initial Financial Programming

15 Setúbal - ORUS Moita - Vale da Amoreira Almada - Nova Almada Velha Cascais - Bairro da Torre/Cruz da Guia Sintra - Núcleo Urbano Central da Agualva Vila Franca de Xira - Bairro do Olival de Fora Coimbra - Zona do Centro Histórico Espinho - Marinhas de Silvaldes Vila do Conde - Caxinas e Poça da Barca Guimarães - Zona de Couros Braga - Zona do Centro Histórico Co-ordination and Technical Assistance TOTAL URBAN REHABILITATION PROGRAMME 13 Euros Table II - Final Financial Allocation Total Total EFTA Mechanism National Public Sector Private Cost Public Total Grant EIB Loan Total Central Local Others Sector SUB-PROGRAMMES Sector Govern Autority

16 - Co-ordination and Technical Assistance in order to increase the technical assistance measures of the other sub-programmes. The central objectives of this reallocation were the following: - to adjust the financial programming of the completed years, 1997 and 1998, to the actual execution in these years; - to distribute the remaining amount over the years from 1999 to 2001; - to attribute the responsibility for the amounts which initially were expected to be financed by using other sources of financing, in the cases where this was otherwise impossible, to the Local Authorities; - to attribute the responsibility for the increase in costs to the Local Authorities. The approval process of this reallocation was very long, and was formally approved on the 19th of February Nevertheless, recognising the delay in the process, the EIB extended the Programme for another year, until the 31st of December Subsequently, this date was extended until the 30th of June 2003 for all the projects, with the exception of the Final Evaluation Study of the Programme the period of eligibility of which was extended until the 31 st of December of the same year. 14

17 IV MANAGEMENT AND FOLLOW-UP SYSTEM URBAN REHABILITATION PROGRAMME 4.1 National Management In general terms, the institutional structure responsible for the management of the Programme followed the orientations established for the Programmes of the Community Support Framework II. The DGDR was responsible for the national management and follow-up of the Programme, under the co-ordination of one of its deputy general director. For support, a Management Unit was created by Joint Dispatch of the Minister of Equipment, Planning and Territorial Administration, the Minister for Qualification and Employment and the Minister of Solidarity and Social Security, of 03/03/97 published in the Diário da República of 19/03/97. The Management Unit was presided over by the DGDR and included representatives of each of the beneficiary Town Halls, the Co-ordination Committees of the Lisbon and Tagus Valley, Centre and North Regions, of the Institute of Employment and Professional Training, the General Directorate of Social Action, the Regional Boards of the Environment of Lisbon and the Tagus Valley, Centre and North and of the General Directorate of Territorial Planning and Urban Development. The Joint Dispatch stated that the Management Unit should function in plenary sessions for the adoption of general guidelines, specifically with regard to the pursuance of objectives, the realisation of the programmed instruments and actions and checking to see if the applicable national and community standards had been complied with. The areas of competence of the Management Unit were set out as follows: To support the DGDR in the realisation of the objectives defined in the Programme; To ensure the programmed instruments and actions were realised; To propose the approval of its internal regulations to the Ministers of Equipment, Planning and Territorial Administration, Qualification and Employment, Solidarity and Social Security and of the Environment; To give an opinion on the action plans submitted by the Beneficiary Town Halls; To give an opinion on the Programme s execution report projects; To accompany and give an opinion on the Programme s control and evaluation system. 15

18 Joint Dispatch no. 476/97 of the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Equipment, Planning and Territorial Administration and the Deputy Minister, published in the Diário da República of 21/11/97, also created a Technical Support Structure to support the manager and the Management Unit, made up from three senior technicians. Throughout the Programme eighteen meetings of the Management Unit were held, the first of which was in the DGDR s installations. Given the limited conditions offered by these installations in view of the number of participants, the second meeting was held in Coimbra and the following six in various hotels in Lisbon. Following one of the recommendations of the Programme s Mid-Term Evaluation, the others were held in the intervention zones in order to promote a greater exchange of experiences and a better physical knowledge of the intervention zones of the various Sub-programmes. The model of these Management Units was also altered in relation to the previous model, with the host Local Authority making the presentation of the respective zones focusing on the aspects of the intervention which were more and less successfully achieved, which was followed by a debate and then a guided visit to the locations. Table III Management Unit Meetings Meeting no. Location Date 1 DGDR Coimbra Hotel in Lisbon Hotel in Lisbon Hotel in Lisbon Hotel in Lisbon Hotel in Lisbon Hotel in Lisbon Espinho Almada Guimarães V. Franca Xira Braga Moita Vila do Conde Cascais Sintra DGDR

19 The most important decisions of these Management Units were those relating to the approval of the Programme s management and follow-up instruments, the approval of the annual action plans before their submission for homologation by the respective Ministers, the approval of the half-yearly and annual reports, the approval of the general contract conditions of the mid-term evaluation tender and of the final evaluation and respective reports. 4.2 Local Management Local Management was the responsibility of each of the Beneficiary Town Halls which had to nominate a representative, appointed as Local Manager. In most cases, this representative was a councillor, although in other situations a technician from the Local Authority may have been appointed. Amongst other things, the local managers were responsible for managing the Sub-programme at a local level, connecting with the National Management and presenting the annual action plans which systematised the projects which were proposed to carry out in the year in question. The Local Managers were supported by a Local Technical Support Structure, made up from technicians from various areas, belonging or not to the technical staff of the Local Authority, with the objective of facilitating relations with the beneficiary population and to stimulate and support the implementation of the respective Sub-programme. In some cases, Moita, Almada, Cascais, Sintra, Vila Franca de Xira, Espinho and Vila do Conde, the technicians of the Local Technical Support Structure whose vocation was more to do with the social area were installed in the intervention area for them to be closer to the local population and to facilitate the establishment of the partnerships which were fundamental to the success of the interventions. 4.3 Follow-up The first step in the Programme s follow-up process was to send the proposals for the Annual Action Plan of each of the Beneficiary Local Authorities to the DGDR. These Plans should indicate the projects to be executed in the year in question, in accordance with the strategy and the objectives set out in the Sub-programme. After this document was analysed and validated, it was then presented to the Management Unit of the Programme and thereafter submitted to the Ministry of Equipment, Planning and Territorial Administration and the Ministry for Qualification and Employment for homologation. After this homologation, the Local Manager would send the bids of the various projects to the DGDR which were approved provided that they fitted into the standardised Action Plan and that they complied with all the rules of eligibility set out in the contract signed with the EIB and in the national and community standards. 17

20 As immaterial projects could only be financed by grant, and could not use the loan, in accordance with the EIB s rules of financing, the financing plans of the various projects of each Local Authority did not follow the average grant and loan rates which were defined in the global financing plan. However, the maximum limits established in the contract celebrated between the EIB and the Portuguese Republic were always guaranteed. The follow-up of the financial execution of the projects was made with the sending to the DGDR of authenticated copies of all expenses and respective payment documents, duly stamped with reference to the sources of financing which were used. Due to limitations of the computer system supporting the management of the Structural Funds (SIDreg), the follow-up of the financial execution of this Programme was performed by using other computer resources (EXCEL), which restricted the availability of data on the physical execution of the interventions and which reflected on the performance of the final evaluation of the Programme. 18

21 V FINANCIAL FLOWS As this Programme was financed by a grant and an EIB loan, the borrower of which was the Caixa Geral de Depósitos, transfers from one source of financing to the other followed different paths Transfers of grant With regard to the grant, DGDR, in its capacity of the Programme s managing entity, opened a specific bank account where all the transfers in respect of this were credited and where all the payments to the beneficiary entities were debited. In accordance with the contract, all the transfers had to be for an amount equal to or greater than two million Euros. With the exception of the advance, payment requests had to be based on the expense already paid, increased by the forecast of payments to be made in the ninety days following the request. This meant that the pace of execution of the Sub-programmes could not be very different, which was not always the case, mainly in the first years of the Programme and with more serious consequences for the Sub-programmes which made best progress in this period given that they had to wait more time to be repaid. Payments were processed in accordance with the following table: Table IV Transfers of Grant Date of the Transfer Amount Received (Euros) Amount Received (PTE) Advance $00 1st Reimburse $00 2nd Reimburse $00 3rd Reimburse $00 4th Reimburse $00 5th Reimburse $00 6th Reimburse $00 TOTAL $00 19

22 The last reimburse, relating to the financial participation in the Final Evaluation Study of the Programme has still not been received. This Programme suffered from a negative variation in exchange to the amount of thousand PTE resulting from the advance received in Transfers of EIB Loan Transfers of loan were made by the EIB directly into the account of the Caixa Geral de Depósitos following a request from this entity, supported by the execution of the Sub-programmes which it was informed of by the DGDR. Although the contract between the EIB and the Caixa Geral de Depósitos allowed up to seven requests for payment of the open credit, the transfers were made on the dates and for the amounts shown in the following table: Table V Transfers of EIB Loan Transfer Date Amount Received (Euros) Amount Received (PTE) 1st Transfer , nd Transfer , rd Transfer , th Transfer , TOTAL , Payments to the End Beneficiaries Each of the Beneficiary Town Halls of the Programme opened two specific bank accounts, one for the grant and the other for the loan. With regard to the grant and within the terms of the Programme s Regulations, the initial advance was only paid to the Local Authorities after the homologation of the Action Plan of 1997 and in proportion to the amounts of the execution of the grant allowed for. The remaining payments were made by reimburse, in as much as the expense was notified to the 20

23 DGDR and certified by this and paid when there was a positive balance in the account. The payments were made in accordance with the execution of the grant, a criterion which the EIB did not follow in the transfers. In the last payment the amount available, including the interest generated by the account, was distributed in proportion to the total execution of each of the Sub-programmes. Payments of the grant are set out in Table VI presented below. With regard to the payments of the loan, these were made in accordance with the execution of the loan notified by the DGDR to the Caixa Geral de Depósitos and following a formal request from the Beneficiary Municipalities. The annual release of the credits constituted in favour of each Sub-programme is set out in Table VII presented below. The net interest rates applied to the loans reflected the variations recorded in the index used up to the present date (3 month Euribor), and from the 16 th of December 2002 it reached its absolute minimum of 1.75% (1% plus 0.75% intermediary s margin of the Caixa Geral de Depósitos) and its development is shown in the following graph: 21

24 Graph No. 1 Net Interest rates Final report 22

25 Setúbal ,24 April ,81 July ,04 Feb ,69 Aug ,77 Sept ,71 May ,86 Sept 2001 Moita ,03 April ,26 July ,05 Feb ,65 Aug ,27 Sept ,12 May ,82 Aug 2001 Almada ,15 May ,33 July ,70 Feb ,37 Aug ,64 Sept ,14 May ,68 Aug 2001 Cascais ,00 April ,13 July ,63 Feb ,35 Aug ,24 Sept ,33 May ,66 Aug 2001 Sintra ,96 April ,50 July ,12 Jan ,59 Aug ,77 May Vila Franca de Xira ,24 April ,69 July ,93 Jan ,26 Aug ,11 Sept ,81 May ,03 Aug 2001 Coimbra ,84 April ,94 July ,83 Jan ,22 Aug ,51 Sept ,63 May ,16 Aug 2001 Espinho ,41 April ,06 July ,03 Jan ,33 Aug ,39 Oct ,28 May ,98 Aug 2001 Vila do Conde ,68 April ,53 July ,36 Jan ,37 Aug ,99 Sept ,26 May ,05 Aug 2001 Guimarães ,66 April ,77 July ,53 Jan ,11 Aug ,78 Oct ,09 May ,37 Sept 2001 Braga ,68 May ,05 July ,44 Feb ,63 Aug ,05 Sept ,53 May ,04 Aug 2001 Technical Assistance , , ,77 Apr , ,79 Oct , ,46 Aug 2001 TOTAL , , , , , , ,10 URBAN REHABILITATION PROGRAMME 23 Table VI - Payments of Grant Advance 1st Disbursement 2nd Disbursement 3rd Disbursement 4th Disbursement 5th Disbursement 6th Disbursement SUB-PROGRAMMES Amount Date Amount Date Amount Date Amount Date Amount Data Amount Data Amount Data

26 24 Amount Data Amount Data Amount Data Amount Data Amount Data Amount Data Euros PTE ,38 Nov ,65 Mar ,00 Oct ,00 Jan ,12 Mar ,39 May , ,75 Nov ,78 Mar ,00 Oct ,00 Jan ,22 Mar ,39 May , ,91 Nov ,10 Mar ,00 Oct ,72 Mar ,05 May , ,29 Nov ,27 Mar ,00 Oct ,00 Jan ,92 Mar ,02 May , ,00 Oct ,00 Jan ,06 Mar ,89 May , ,03 Nov ,04 April ,00 Oct ,89 Mar ,12 May , ,76 Nov ,04 Mar ,00 Oct ,00 Jan ,09 Mar ,01 May , ,00 Nov ,89 Mar ,00 Oct ,00 Jan ,99 Mar ,19 May , ,70 Nov ,51 Mar ,00 Nov ,00 Jan ,16 May , ,18 Nov ,88 April ,00 Oct ,00 Jan ,64 Mar ,06 May , ,91 Nov ,39 April ,00 Oct ,00 Jan ,58 Mar ,54 May , , ,48 June , , , , , , , , Table VI - Payments of Grant 7th Disbursement 8th Disbursement 9th Disbursement 10th Disbursement 11th Disbursement 12th Disbursement Total

27 Setúbal , ,22 0, , , ,89 0, ,80 Moita , , , , , , , ,77 Almada , ,12 0, , , ,01 0, ,39 Cascais , , , , , , , ,52 Sintra , , ,75 0, , , , ,29 V. Franca de Xira , , , , , ,75 0, ,30 Coimbra , , , , , , , ,70 Espinho , , , , , ,62 0, ,29 Vila do Conde , , , , , ,15 0, ,79 Guimarães , ,02 0, , , , , ,90 Braga ,30 0, , , , , , ,27 Total , , , , , , , ,02 Euros URBAN REHABILITATION PROGRAMME 25 Amounts Table VII - Annual Payments of EIB Loan Annual Releases SUB-PROGRAMMES Contracted TotaL

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29 VI - GLOBAL FINANCIAL EXECUTION In the first years of execution of the Programme, owing to various conditioning factors one of the principal ones being the need to mount all of the support structure, the financial execution was very low. Once there obstacles were overcome, as from 1999, the execution went along at a good pace reaching a value at the end of the Programme which was very close to the total planned cost in the reallocation, 97%, and around 15% more than had originally been planned. In fact, and in relation to the total reallocated cost, in 1997 only 5.4% was executed, in 1998 this reached 10.7%, in 1999 it reached 17,6% and in 2000 it went up to 23,7%. Therefore, by the end of 2000 the accumulated execution was 57.4% of the total amount of the Programme. Graph No. 2 Annual Evolution of the Execution In the following tables the global execution is presented by Sub-programme and by year. 27

30 Table VIII Rates of Execution by Sub-programme SUB-PROGRAMMES Financial Allocation Total Execution Rate of Execution Setúbal , ,77 86,20% Moita , ,45 97,70% Almada , ,96 99,70% Cascais , ,06 95,90% Sintra , ,60 98,40% Vila Franca de Xira , ,17 99,80% Coimbra , ,41 98,10% Espinho , ,20 94,40% Vila do Conde , ,17 106,90% Guimarães , ,28 88,90% Braga , ,30 100,30% Technical Assistance , ,19 85,10% TOTAL , ,57 97% 28

31 Setúbal , , , , , ,10 0, ,77 Moita , , , , , , , ,45 Almada , , , , , , , ,96 Cascais , , , , , , , ,06 Sintra , , , , , , , ,60 Vila Franca de Xira , , , , , ,68 885, ,17 Coimbra , , , , , , , ,41 Espinho , , , , , ,68 0, ,20 Vila do Conde , , , , , , , ,17 Guimarães , , , , , , , ,28 Braga , , , , , , , ,30 Technical Assistance , , , , ,30 0, , ,19 TOTAL , , , , , , , ,57 URBAN REHABILITATION PROGRAMME 29 SUB-PROGRAMMES Table IX - Annual Execution by Sub-programme TOTAL Euros

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33 VII EVALUATION In accordance with the commitment assumed with the European Investment Bank, two evaluation exercises were made of this Programme, one half way through the process and the other after closure. The Intermediate Evaluation Study began in 1998 with the preparation of the tender programme and the general contract conditions, which were submitted for the opinion of the EIB and of the Caixa Geral de Depósitos in November of the same year. The EIB s suggestions, received in May of 1999, led to some adjustments in the selection criteria of the bids. This was followed by the procedures relating to its approval by the Management Unit and later sent to the Ministry of Equipment, Planning and Territorial Administration so that the announcement of the tender by prior qualification was only published in the 3rd Series of the Diário da República of the 31 st of July The selection process ended in May 2000 with the signing of the contract with the firm Espaço e Desenvolvimento Estudos e Projectos, Lda. The final version of the Intermediate Evaluation Study Report which was completed in May of 2001 set out the strong and weak points of the Programme and made a series of recommendations, some of which it was not possible to execute due to the delay brought about in preparing this study. However, this process was important as it allowed all the intervening parties, Town Halls, DGDR and other members of the Management Unit, to reflect, individually and collectively, on the way in which the problems were being approached and the best path to follow in order to resolve them. The process leading to the Final Programme Evaluation Study began in July 2002 with a formal request to extend the period of eligibility of the amounts of Sub-programme 12 Co-ordination and Technical Assistance intended for this purpose until the end of 2003 being sent to the EIB. Once this agreement was given, the tender programme by prior qualification was prepared, and which was sent in March 2003 to the EIB and to the members of the Management Unit for an opinion. The announcement of the tender was published in the 3rd Series of the Diário da República of the 2 nd of August, and was followed by the selection process of the contenders, and was completed with the signing of the contract with the firm Espaço e Desenvolvimento Estudos e Projectos, Lda. on the 10 th of November. A Comprehensive Summary of the Final Report of the Final Programme Evaluation Study, completed in February 2004, was prepared in English which was sent to the European Investment Bank. The main conclusions of this Study highlighted positive aspects which were observed in most of the Sub-programmes and other less successful aspects. The positive aspects mentioned were: 31

34 attenuation of the physical degradation of the public space and of the existing constructions, through the recovery of degraded and abandoned spaces; construction and operation of social equipment with the potential for diverse uses and to cover a variety of target publics (children, young people, the elderly and underprivileged social groups); attenuation of the negative image existing in the urban spaces where rehabilitation work took place through the creation of urban amenities; dynamisation of forms of occupation and the creation of Economic Activities (incubation of companies, construction of municipal markets and the installation de activities and services in the neighbourhood); job creation in micro-initiatives, through the creation of social insertion companies, the formalisation of activities, neighbourhood commerce, support for activities/small neighbourhood services, etc.; creation of solutions with relative management autonomy, as a support for activities and the future operation of important social and economic equipment. The less successful aspects which the evaluator considers should be taken into account in the definition of future interventions were: organising training initiatives based on surveys of the training needs of the target public; extending the supply of neighbourhood urban social services and access to the equipment and initiatives supported in the intervention area to the areas surrounding the intervention zones; the need for greater investment in the following areas: the environment, infra-structures and the transport system, education and professional training; to ensure the economic sustainability of the equipment and of the activities supported, mainly those which are not inserted in the market or which did not guarantee co-financing solutions for the services provided by the use of financing outside of the municipal authority s budget; reduced number and narrow range of disciplinary skills of the human resources in the Local Technical Support Structures and, mainly, of the Global Co-ordination; lack of an effective technical follow-up function of the Sub-programmes capable of supporting the local structures in the efficient performance of their Local Management activities in order to extend the reach of the intended results; the need to alter the fund transfer procedure so as not to penalise the Sub-programmes which 32

35 managed to progress at a faster pace. Given that there are a number of problem zones in Portugal with similar characteristics to the areas supported by the Programme, and where, within the framework of new urban policies drawn up in the light of the objectives of the cohesion, the approach to these problems should be a priority, the evaluator recommends that similar interventions to those which were developed by the Programme be executed in these areas and that there be better guarantees concerning the sustainability of these projects. 33

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39 SUB-PROGRAMME 1 SETÚBAL - ORUS/URBAN REHABILITATION PROGRAMME OF SETÚBAL THE START SITUATION The Territory The intervention zone of this Sub-programme is a territory of around 120 ha mainly covering places which correspond to the industrial expansion of the end of the 19th century and first half of the 20 th century. The ex-ante diagnosis made to support the bid to the programme confirmed that the territory displayed great heterogeneity in urban terms, with large undeveloped areas and degraded spaces. It includes six neighbourhoods: Santos Nicolau, Dias, Alto da Pina, Trindade, Nossa Senhora da Conceição and Belavista, corresponding to different stages of construction, the last of which is from the seventies. These are fundamentally rehousing neighbourhoods, from IGAPHE, housing cooperatives, controlled cost construction, housing development contracts and from direct promotion programmes. The transfer of this population to the neighbourhoods was mostly due to industrial expansion, the rural exodus and to decolonisation. This varied background of people who in many cases lacked a certain urban culture, caused a strong sense of losing ones roots and poor social aggregation, which, together with the social declassification of the neighbourhoods caused serious problems of poverty and exclusion. The housing zone was very run down, with insufficient coverage of basic sanitation, unkempt public spaces and a scarcity of social and cultural equipment. Most of the homes were overcrowded due to the presence of various generations living in the same house. A positive factor in the conversion of the intervention area was the existence of various local associations of a sporting or recreational nature. The economic activity existing in the zone was essentially geared towards satisfying basic local needs, with a shortage of more differentiated activities such as banks and services. 37

40 The Population Details of the population come from the Census of 1991, which went no lower than a parish basis. Nevertheless, it is estimated that the resident population in the intervention zone was around 16 thousand inhabitants. In relation to the municipality, this area has a younger population, but with a low level of education, a higher rate of unemployment and deficient professional training. The jobs to be found most frequently are in sectors lacking differentiation such as civil construction, motor mechanics and services. There were serious problems of marginality, mainly amongst the younger population, who are largely unemployed. The trafficking and consumption of drugs and racial conflicts, a more recent phenomenon, have created feelings of insecurity and exclusion. THE INTERVENTION The initial objectives Given the context as described, the priority objectives for the intervention were defined as: Improving the areas of the most run down zone; Creating the conditions for the zone to become a tertiary area of expansion; Create a local move towards development; Put an end to isolation and social exclusion. To do this the idea was to prepare an integrated plan for the zone, which defined the major interventions and the conditioning urban factors to introduce to the territory, which would be complemented by local strategic plans geared towards economic, social and cultural dynamisation. Particular emphasis was also given to the system of partnerships so that the union of various intents could draw up a concerted and sustainable basis for action for the area over time. To put these objectives into operation three Measures were created: 38

41 Measure 1.1 Physical and Environmental Infrastructures and Social Equipment Measure Local, Economic and Professional Dynamisation Measure Management and Technical Assistance The total cost of the intervention was initially set at Euros, which was not reached during the Programme. The participated amount of the intervention was Euros, 42% of which came from the grant, and 22% from the EIB subsidised loan, 29% from local authority financing, 4% from the State Budget and the remainder from the private sector. The distribution of the total cost by Measures was 79%, 18% and 3%, respectively. Table X - Sub-programme 1 - Setúbal / ORUS Programming and Financial execution by Measure Financial Execution Setúbal Forecast Total Cost Grant EIB Loan Central Govern National Public Sector Local Authority Other Private Sector Medida , , , , , , ,74 Medida , , , , , ,25 Medida , , , ,63 TOTAL , , , , , , , ,98 Development of the project Contrary to what had initially been planned for, the integrated plan for the intervention zone was never implemented and the public/private partnerships which had been intended to be formed did not go as far as would have been desired due to the very limited financial capacity of the local agents. For these reasons, the projects for intervention in public spaces were presented in a sporadic manner as the needs arose and in a poorly concerted manner which did not take all the surroundings 39

42 into account. In spite of this, 18 Urban Landscaping projects were developed which covered an area of m2, which, given the chaotic initial situation, represents a certain improvement in the urban environment of the zone. These projects focussed fundamentally on the recovery of walkways, pavements and the creation of parking places. Rua Henrique Costa Neves Interior patios in Belavista With regard to social equipment, 18 projects were developed, 10 of which were for children. One of the main projects amongst these was the construction of the Bela Vista Pre-school Building with a capacity for 75 children, the installation of two After School Activity Centres with capacity for 30 and 45 children respectively, the recovery of the Fonte da Lavra Primary School No. 12 and the construction of the Fonte da Lavra children s playground. Other interventions of a more sporadic nature were the equipment of the Quinta Nova Children s Centre and of the Welcome Centre for Children at Risk, the installation of games equipment in four primary schools in the zone and improvements in another school. Primary School No. 12 Pre-school Building 40

43 Quinta Nova Children s Centre Two sets of equipment were constructed to develop local economic activity: the Bairro da Belavista Economic Units intended for setting up small shops and workshops, where there is an African restaurant, a handicrafts workshop and a shop with African products, and the Local Initiatives Development Centre to house a centre of activities and services providing support to small and medium sized companies, where the Business Support Bureau (GAE), the Youth Bureau (Gabinete da Juventude) and the REQUAL Project all operate.in this type of equipment it is necessary to ensure there is a strong local public / private partnership, in order to ensure its sustainability. Belavista Economic Units Intended for the elderly population, the Bairro da Conceição Social Centre for the Elderly was recovered, which operates as a day centre and has capacity for around 100 people. Three items of sports and entertainment equipment were also built or recovered, the Bela Vista Sports Field and Changing Rooms, the Bairro da Belavista Pavilion intended for the festive events and social occasions of the different ethnic groups resident in the neighbourhood and the head office of the Amigos de Santos Nicolau Centre, a local association which develops sports and recreational activities. Local Initiatives Centre 41