Wastescapes in port cities. Naples and Rotterdam
a spatial and institutional comparison on the role of ports as promoters of circular economy
Libera Amenta (TU Delft - Environmental Technology and Design, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II)
Paolo de Martino (Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, TU Delft - History, Form & Aesthetics)
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Abstract
Ports have historically followed a linear model of growth. Formation, expansion,
reallocation, abandonment, and redevelopments are just some of the steps that are followed over time by ports from all over the world. Circularity – a goal that both ports and cities hope to achieve in the near future – is not a new topic anymore. Although the global pressures to achieve this goal are immense, it can be stated that most port cities still have not yet made serious steps towards new circular models of growth. On the contrary, ports are still expanding, and they still generate serious amounts of waste, while also leaving networks of left-over territories that lay in states of wastefulness: port-city wastescapes. Two cases regarding these wastescapes are discussed. Naples, which is used to show land in limbo, while Rotterdam is used to show a port in transition. This article argues that a circular regeneration of these wastescapes can play a crucial role in re-imagining a new form of integration between the port, the city, and the metropolitan territory.