Accessibility in metropolitan areas in the 21st century-The case of Lisbon

The accessibility concept has been evolving very rapidly, through the introduction of new technologies, to a more integrated concept of connectivity. This evolution is determining new locational factors for economic activities. The modernization and internationalization of the Portuguese economy are, therefore, determining physical changes that the planning process led by the public administration has to control. The deep and rapid physical and functional changes being operated in the Lisbon Metropolitan Region call for a metropolitan planning framework, following a new attitude which ensures a metropolitan balance as well as its internal and external synergies.