Work

Institutional resilience and crisis governance in the EU: insights from the Lisbon Metropolitan Experience

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: This article explores the role of metropolitan institutions in crisis governance, drawing on the case of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (LMA) during the COVID-19 pandemic. While formal decision-making in Portugal remained centralized, local institutions were critical in implementing emergency responses, sustaining services, and supporting vulnerable populations. Based on survey data from 90 public and associative entities, the analysis reveals high levels of institutional adaptability and lateral cooperation, despite the absence of coordinated metropolitan governance. However, responses were primarily adaptive rather than transformational, and structural challenges, including digital inequality, fragmented coordination, and lack of institutional learning, persisted. The findings highlight the need to integrate metropolitan actors more fully into EU crisis governance frameworks, not merely as implementers but as co-designers of inclusive and resilient responses. The Lisbon experience underscores both the potential and limitations of emergent, bottom-up resilience and calls for the institutionalization of metropolitan governance as a key dimension of future EU crisis preparedness.

Source: Frontiers in Political Science

DOI: 10.3389/fpos.2025.1700468

Authors: Jorge Gonçalves, Silvia Spolaor, Larysa Lebedeva

Institutions: University of Lisbon, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade do Porto, Centro de Investigação do Território Transportes e Ambiente, State University of Trade and Economics

Language: English

Topic: Disaster Management and Resilience

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Sustainable cities and communities, Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $1,418