Port cities, projections 2020 - Rising the stakes of development

[i]Call for papers[/i] Méditerranée N° 3-4 - vol. 111 - 2008 Editor: Rachel Rodrigues-Malta - Université de Provence. During the course of the last decade, the worldwide trade of goods has seen spectacular growth, registering on average a progression of 5,6% per year. Of this trade, three fourths of the volume is handled by maritime transport, which according to the figures, represents more than 25.000 billion metric tonnes which transit yearly on the seas and oceans. Within this context, port cities can be considered as privileged look-out points from which to observe the economic globalization at work. Thus, they constitute a place in which, in its most complete form, the forces of ‘local’ and ‘global’ meet, are expressed, and confront each other. Most certainly, as F. Braudel has shown, the phenomenon is not new. However, the contemporary mutations, driven notably by the spectacular growth of the Asian economies and the pervasive containerization of shipped goods, are of unprecedented volume. This raises anew fundamental questions regarding each basic component that makes up the port city; the economic, social, spatial, the temporal and cultural. At the same time, each individual port is required to come to its own understanding as to how to position itself within a framework of competitive duality: confronting the need to capture its share of the transportation of goods; and the city’s innate drive to secure a favorable position within the territory of Europe. In this rapidly expanding environment of international trade, each port is a priori in a position to potentially undergo an increase of their economic activity. From 1995 until 2005, worldwide container traffic has grown from 145 million EVPs (equivalent to 20ft) to 271 million EVPs. Through the end of this decade, the increase is expected to continue at the rate of 8,9% per annum. It is true however, that in order to be able to adapt the infrastructure of a port to meet the requirements of this dominant mode of traffic (which is characterized by its sheer gigantic volume), an enormous up-front investment is needed, which favors concentration in the main ports. The expansion of new competitors is thus limited. In Portugal for example, only the port of Sinès is in a position today to receive the biggest container vessels. However, and most paradoxically, even if the gap grows between the ports of global importance (many of which are lined up along the frontage of the North Sea and the Atlantic) and the ports of regional and national importance, this disparity is not always synonymous with marginalization or decline. The development of the one does not in a general manner result in the total regression of the other more modest-sized ports. Given this new economic trend created by globalization and the increase of traffic, local projects can find opportunities to increase their trade as has been achieved in an exemplary way in Southern Italy. Here the spectacular hub of Gioia Tauro has seen a sudden and spectacular growth since the 1990s. Nonetheless, the economic renewal of port cities does not automatically follow an increase in traffic; there can even be a relative disconnect of these two phenomena. It should not be forgotten that a port cannot be defined solely by its’ handling equipment, its’ assortment of infrastructures, its’ body of water, apparatus and machinery. A port refers as well to the trades, the cultures, to a society and to a “specific imaginary” . Since the 1980s, port cities have all been confronted with more or less identical situations of ‘urban crisis’, which have been tightly linked to the either the expansion of economic activity, or to its decline. Thus, important port cities can incur a simultaneous increase in container traffic and yet experience persistent problems in the area of employment . The relationship between port and city is therefore highly complex and pre-supposes a prevailing tension between the diverse economic, social, spatial and temporal forces of the two entities. From this point of view, the stakes involved in the ‘regeneration’ of the cities does not only consist of securing quantities of ‘boxes’ and vessels, but to transform these transits into revenue and wealth for the city. Today, global market trends present the opportunity to conceive ambitious projects which can fill the void left by the disappearance of traditional heavy industry. In order to attain these objectives, political dispositions have been set in motion. The challenge is to enable the port city to be ‘productive’ and not only be a place of transfer; it is also to resolve the tensions between the port functions and the urban functions. Along with this comes the need to harmonize the temporalities and the demands of the “global” and the “local”, as well as responding to the aspirations of the inhabitants in terms of lifestyle facilities, housing and a sufficient supply of diverse facilities and urban spaces. The investigated themes. The objective of this edition of Méditerranée is to outline the new contours which are the reality of today’s city ports. By making use of analyses centering on Southern European and Mediterranean locations, or/and by carrying out a comparative approach to this region, this can allow for each area to perhaps reveal its own uniqueness. This investigation is based on input from three themes: 1 - The adaptation and/or extension of port equipment needed to address the new requirements of maritime traffic. A look at the terms and conditions of their realization and their subsequent impact from various aspects: economic, social, spatial and environmental urban scale, metropolitan and regional concerns. 2 - Pioneering methods of governance. A study of the evolving judiciary and the innovative planning processes which precede the development of the port, its closely related industrial zones (factories, logistics, etc), urban- port reconversion sectors, and depending on the case, the totality of the city-port interaction. 3 - Reconversion/regeneration of the city-port interface. An evaluation of the interface objectives, its urban functions and/or privileged port status, and the induced costs of renewal and its related impact in terms of economic, social, urban and cultural factors. The deadline for submissions (summary of 1 page) is [b]21st December 2007[/b]. They should be send by e-mail to the journal [url=mailto:c.durbiano@wanadoo.fr]c.durbiano@wanadoo.fr[/url] and to the issue’s editor [url=mailto:rachel.malta@wanadoo.fr]rachel.malta@wanadoo.fr[/url] The deadline for receipt of the articles (after evaluation by referees appointed by the Editorial Board), is [b]29th February 2009[/b]. Proposed articles must comply with the instructions given to authors for texts and illustrations. For more information, interested authors may contact Rachel Rodrigues-Malta [url=mailto:rachel.malta@wanadoo.fr]rachel.malta@wanadoo.fr[/url]