Porto metropolitan area


The Porto Metropolitan Area is a metropolitan area in northern Portugal centered on the City of Porto, Portugal's second largest city. The metropolitan area, covering 17 municipalities, is the second largest urban area in the country and List of [urban areas in the European Union|one of the largest in the European Union], with a population in 2024 of 1,818,217 in an area of 2,040.31 km².
The Porto Metropolitan Area is a major economic engine in Portugal, with a List of Portuguese regions by [Human Development Index|very high HDI] and a GDP above the European average. Porto has been Portugal's largest manufacturing region since the Industrial Revolution and is home to many of the country's largest corporations.
It is chaired by Pedro Duarte.

History

The original Metropolitan Area of Porto was constituted by nine municipalities: Porto, Espinho, Gondomar, Maia, Matosinhos, Póvoa de Varzim, Vila Nova de Gaia, Valongo, and Vila do Conde.
The process of enlargement:

Government

The metropolitan area is governed by the Junta Metropolitana do Porto, headquartered in Avenida dos Aliados, in downtown Porto. The current President of the Metro area is Pedro Duarte, also the mayor of Porto.
The Conselho Metropolitano do Porto is composed by the 17 mayors of the municipalities that integrate the Metropolitan Area: 8 mayors from the Socialist Party, 8 from the Social [Democratic Party (Portugal)|Social Democratic Party] and 1 from the CDS – People's Party.
Although the government has halted the intention of creating new metropolitan areas and urban communities, it is keen to ensure greater autonomy to Porto and Lisbon metropolitan areas.

Urban areas and agglomeration

The Porto metropolitan area is the second largest metropolitan area of Portugal, with about 1.8 million people. It groups the larger Porto Urban Area, the second largest in the country, assembled by the municipalities of Porto, Matosinhos, Vila Nova de Gaia, Gondomar, Valongo and Maia. It also includes three smaller urban areas: Póvoa de Varzim-Vila do Conde, Trofa-Santo Tirso and Santa Maria da Feira-São João da Madeira-Oliveira de Azeméis.
The urban-metropolitan agglomeration known as Porto Metropolitan Arch is a regional urban system of polycentric nature that encompasses the Porto Metropolitan Area and the sub-regions of Cávado, Ave and Tâmega e Sousa, including cities such as Braga and Guimarães.

Population

MunicipalityArea Population
Arouca329.1120,826
Espinho21.0632,736
Gondomar131.86169,388
Maia82.99144,664
Matosinhos62.42181,046
Oliveira de Azeméis161.1067,471
Paredes156.7686,560
Porto41.42252,687
Póvoa de Varzim82.2168,459
Santa Maria da Feira215.88140,568
Santo Tirso136.6067,713
São João da Madeira7.9424,247
Trofa72.0240,294
Vale de Cambra147.3321,239
Valongo75.12101,464
Vila do Conde149.0385,871
Vila Nova de Gaia168.46312,984
Total2,040.31 km²1,818,217

Transportation

The Metropolitan area is keen to develop its transportation network. Porto Metro is a Rapid transit system that links the municipalities of Porto, Vila Nova de Gaia, Matosinhos, Gondomar, Maia, Vila do Conde and Póvoa de Varzim.
The Porto/ Francisco de [Sá Carneiro Airport] / Pedras Rubras, between the municipalities of Maia, Matosinhos, and Vila do Conde, is also one of its greater investments. It was transformed from an old and obsolete airport to a modern transportation centre, linked to Porto Metro. The JMP is also trying to pressure the government to add a TGV line to link Vigo in Galicia to Porto Airport in order to make Porto the air traffic centre of the North-Western Iberian Peninsula and to tighten its historical ties with that Spanish province.
Greater Porto is served by a great number of Motorways linking the main central areas of the metropolitan region and the region with other main Portuguese cities.
Main Harbour: Leixões.
Motorways: