Health and housing put municipalities to the test*
In a country that has just elected its new local executives, the “Barómetro do Poder Local 2025”, published by the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation (FFMS), offers a rigorous portrait of the relationship between citizens and local authorities. The study measures perceptions, attitudes, and expectations regarding the level of governance closest to people’s daily lives. What it reveals has direct implications for this new municipal cycle.
The most striking finding is a paradox that runs throughout the report: Portuguese citizens want local government to have greater influence precisely in the areas where they perceive it as weakest – health and housing. Nearly 80% of respondents would like municipalities to play a stronger role in these domains, yet they recognize that local authorities currently have little real influence. This does not reflect distrust; it reflects expectation. Municipalities continue to be seen as legitimate, close-to-the-ground institutions, well placed to respond to everyday problems, but still lacking the full set of tools (formal, financial, and technological) needed to do so.
The barometer also confirms that Portugal remains one of the most centralised countries in the OECD. More than 60% of municipal spending is devoted to general services and infrastructure, while health, social services, housing, and education remain far below levels seen in more decentralized democracies. This helps explain the gap between what citizens demand and what local authorities can deliver.
Health in the shadow of the National Health Service
In healthcare, the limits are clear. Dependence on the National Health Service (NHS) significantly constrains municipal intervention. Local authorities are often called upon to respond to everyday issues (from the shortage of doctors to pressure on primary care), yet their room for manoeuvre is minimal. They lack formal competencies, dedicated funding, and the instruments needed to intervene decisively. As a result, despite strong public expectations, local government remains largely a mediator between citizens and the SNS, rather than a decision-maker with the capacity for direct transformation. The barometer exposes this tension and shows that public perception itself acknowledges these constraints.
Housing: a clearer margin for action
Housing presents a different picture. The management of public housing stock, subsidized rents, emergency rehousing, and coordination with national and European programs is a local responsibility with a direct impact on families’ lives. And here the FFMS barometer identifies a real opportunity: unlike healthcare, housing is an area where local authorities can build greater capacity in a relatively short period of time; provided they have the right tools.
A detailed understanding of the housing stock, a clear view of the pathways and vulnerabilities of families seeking support, rigorous integration of fragmented data, and transparent decision-making are essential for effective public policy. Without integrated information systems, this work becomes slow, fragmented, and often opaque to citizens. In older models, manual processes fail to communicate with one another, leading inevitably to duplicated requests, verification gaps, and difficult-to-justify decisions.
Technology does not solve every problem. But it makes possible much of what is structurally difficult: faster decisions, auditable criteria, coordinated emergency responses, and clear communication with the community.
This is where the barometer touches on a strategic dimension of decentralization: digital capacity. Transferring competences is not enough; municipalities must also be given the means to exercise them. That requires technological infrastructures capable of connecting housing, social services, finance, asset management, planning, and civil protection; an ecosystem that can turn data into policies aligned with real needs.
From my daily work with municipalities across the country, I see that the willingness to take this step already exists. Many local authorities want to work with Portuguese technology companies, seek solutions tailored to local contexts, and are prepared to integrate artificial intelligence in a responsible way – for example, in planning, analyzing social and territorial trends, designing more targeted responses, and assessing policy impact over time. They understand that digital tools do not replace proximity; they amplify the capacity of the people behind it. And they also know that public trust is built on visible, rapid, fair, and consistent results.
The FFMS barometer shows that citizens are ready for stronger local influence in the areas that weigh most heavily on their lives. The good news is that many municipalities share this ambition. Perhaps the time has come for Portugal – the same country that celebrates tech unicorns, hosts the Web Summit, and leads digital innovation through its entry into the D9+ group – to turn that technological gaze inward, towards local authorities and the communities that, whether in or out of the spotlight, shape the quality of life of millions of people.
If decentralization is to work, it is not enough to demand more from local government. We must equip it properly. And this is precisely where Portuguese technology (built by teams that know the territory, work daily with municipalities, and believe in the real impact of digital solutions in public services) can make a difference. Turning data into decisions, processes into trust, and expectations into results is today the true test of local capacity. And it is a test Portugal is well placed to pass.
*This article was originally published in Empreendedor.
