Petition against high-rise construction in Madeira tops 1,700 signatures

Madeira's Regional Government president, Miguel Albuquerque, defended revising Funchal's Municipal Master Plan (PDM) to allow residential buildings up to 20 storeys, as a response to the shortage of available land for housing. Funchal City Council came out in support of the proposal.

In response, more than 1,700 citizens signed the petition "Pela Salvaguarda do Modelo Urbano da Madeira" ("For the Safeguard of Madeira's Urban Model"), asking parties represented in the regional parliament to recommend that the Government not approve legislative, regulatory or territorial planning changes that would, as a general rule, allow buildings over ten storeys in the region. The petitioners instead call for urban rehabilitation policies, reuse of vacant buildings and regeneration of already built-up areas.

According to the petition, defining Madeira's urban model "is a generational decision, whose effects will last for decades," and should be preceded by a broad public debate involving universities, professional associations, local authorities and experts in urban planning, architecture and the environment. Miguel Albuquerque downplayed the opposition, saying the proposal would only allow high-rise construction "in areas with no landscape impact."