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Does happiness fit in cities? Where we live or spend most of our days has a very tangible impact on our lives, how we envision our future, and our imagination of possibilities. Do we have access to housing? Are there professional opportunities? Do we feel welcome on the streets we walk every day?
Does Lisbon make you happy? is an audiovisual journalistic project that has as protagonists young people who frequent the cityWe will listen to people from every parish, seeking to understand how a capital that transforms daily responds to the concerns and desires of a generation in constant reinvention.
Between a report on what it's like to be young today, live initiatives, video interviews, and a documentary, discover below everything that was part of this project.
25 young people, who live in or frequent the various parishes of Lisbon, share their thoughts about the city in a video interview. Discover each testimony below.
This project was showcased outside of screens on two separate occasions: in October 2025, during a live discussion with experts, and in March 2026, at the documentary's launch event. Echoes of LisbonIt all took place at the Goethe Institut in Lisbon, with free admission.
MARCH
31
18:00
Goethe-Institut Library, Lisbon
Launch of the documentary "Echoes of Lisbon", followed by a conversation with young people interviewed.
Echoes of Lisbon portrays the reality of a generation of young Lisbon residents who no longer allow themselves to dream of a future in their own city, suffocated by the housing crisis. Despite the deep love they feel for Lisbon, they face a city that seems out of step with the evolution of the world around it, stuck in time and increasingly molded for tourists, to the detriment of those who live here. Even so, they refuse to give up, reinventing ways of belonging and fighting for their place, keeping alive the identity and spirit of a Lisbon that continues to be, above all, theirs.
The documentary, presented for the first time today, is by Mariana Ferreira. and its starting point was “Does Lisbon make you happy?”, the project of Gerador which sought, through interviews conducted with 25 young people from the city, to paint a diverse portrait of what it means to be young in Lisbon.
The screening will be followed by an open discussion with some of the protagonists., moderated by Tiago Sigorelho, editorial director of Gerador.
OCTOBER
2
19:00
Goethe-Institut Library, Lisbon
Debate The Age of Uncertainty: Challenges of Contemporary Youth
Youth is a fluid concept, shaped by the social and cultural transformations of its time. Factors such as demographics, territory, access to education, and family environment play a decisive role in shaping individual trajectories. Today, these trajectories are increasingly affected by challenges such as the housing crisis and labor market instability, which exacerbates inequalities and raises concerns among experts. In this conversation, the researcher Isabel Menezes, the researcher João Seixas and the director of the Observatory of Inequalities (CIES-IUL) Renato Carmo discuss the challenges faced by young people and how they can shape society in the future.
What exactly does it mean to "be young"? In this report, we speak with experts to understand the impact of factors such as territory, demographics, and education level on the concept of youth.
SEPTEMBER 29, 2025
Being young today is substantially different than it was a few decades ago. The concept of youth is not static and is linked to the surrounding social and cultural dynamics. Aspects such as demographics, geography, education, and family context influence current and future lives. The latter has been increasingly conditioned by the housing crisis and job insecurity, exacerbating inequalities, which worries experts.
