João António de Aguiar and the Waterfront Avenue: The Seaside City Idea in the Last Phase of the Portuguese Empire.

Abstract

João António de Aguiar was one of the most prolific Portuguese architect-planners of the twentieth century, producing an extensive body of work within the framework of the 1934 legislative reform. He employed Urban Development Plans as a key scientific and technical instrument for territorial intervention, both in mainland Portugal and in the overseas territories. Despite his significance, Aguiar’s contribution remains relatively understudied, frequently overshadowed by the reformist ministry of Duarte Pacheco and by the dominant ideological narratives of the period. This article advances a critical analysis centred on urban composition and city design, with particular emphasis on the transformation of coastal urban structures and on Aguiar’s interventions in the Portuguese colonial context. Through a comparative and interpretative methodology, the study examines the formal and spatial principles underpinning his plans, while addressing the cultural challenges involved in adapting European urban models to non- European contexts. By shifting the focus from a merely descriptive inventory of planning instruments to a deeper investigation of urban form, this research offers a more nuanced reading of urban transformation processes in overseas coastal settlements. It contributes to a clearer and more structured understanding of Aguiar’s influence on African and Asian urbanism and on colonial planning practices more broadly.