Cidade Desportiva da Maia

Over the years, a few sport facilities were built on a central city block of Maia, Portugal. Given the lack of a master plan, the many buildings and equipment were built according to the needs of the moment.

The urge to integrate the sports block into the urban fabric and to offer diversity in sports and green spaces according to the new master plan, determined the construction of the Cidade Desportiva da Maia, which was inaugurated in October 2018.

The park has a total area of 10 hectares and it seeks to complement and reinforce the existing sport facilities such as football, athletics, shot put, outdoor gymnastics, skate park and parkour and it creates informal recreational spaces as well as green areas within the densely built surroundings.

The following aspects were also a part of the park program:

▪ Demolition of structures that were obsolete with the consequent increase of the permeable and planting areas contributing to the mitigation of the climate changes and promoting water infiltration through the in-site draining systems.

▪ Incorporation of the demolition materials into the constructed elements within the project area, reducing costs.

▪ The planting species were selected according to the site conditions as well as being low-maintenance species, reducing also the water consumption.

▪ Definition of fast-crossing routes (considering the mobility of disabled people) linking public transportation, schools, the health care center and other sport facilities.

▪ Definition of paths with different levels of difficulty, either designed for leisure or walking, taking into account the interconnection with the eco-route of the city and the Leça riverside routes.

▪ Possibility of day time and night time uses as well as holding events such as music concerts, sports competitions or holiday camps.

▪ Consolidation of Maia’s Edge Space, that is, the urban green corridor with reduced spatial expression that connects the city center to the green corridor of the Leça river.

The proximity of the park to hospitals and health centers, sports facilities, schools and to the city hall - civil protection services and law courts, has determined a design that also considers safety issues and allows to respond to public emergency situations by transforming the sport fields into heliports and field hospitals and the lawns into emergency camping. There are also water harvesting infrastructures and reservoirs that are suitable for supplying the park in the occurrence of these events.