Port cities in a globalised network: identifying challenges and visions for the future of maritime hubs

Abstract

The complexity of the actual scenario related to planning, governance, and design strategy of large-scale port areas needs a growing detailed focus. The new challenges that port-cities are facing in the context of global recession and revision of urban growth for the years to come, together with a sensible view towards sustainable development, offer the opportunity to reconsider the role of ports in urban areas. A brief review of urban processes activated in the Southern Mediterranean context over the past decade, helps to identify possible scenarios for renewing the economic value of the port infrastructure not only in terms of logistics, trade or tourism. As global economy changes, so does the role of large-scale infrastructure, and its tension with the local dynamics of the city. Solutions inspired by intermodality may offer the digital era port to be globally interconnected beyond the solely logistics dynamics.