Port city resilience

Abstract

Port cities around the world have long facilitated trade and the exchange of people. They have developed as part of a network with mirroring facilities for storage, trade and housing in each location. Many of these cities have developed over centuries and share long histories and extensive heritage sites. In this chapter, we argue that while it is relevant to study the reconstruction of a particular waterfront or urban area, it is also important to analyze these projects in the wider context of sea and land, port and city, as part of global maritime networks, and to assess the role that contemporary ports can play in sustainable development of port cities. We argue that the UNESCO Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) approach is particularly appropriate for exploring the links between port cities and their heritage in individual cities and for examining the maritime links between cities and using these to inspire preservation and new development activities. The chapter proposes a new socio-spatial methodology, the datawheel, with the aim of collecting existing knowledge and developing new knowledge, values, attitudes and preferences related to historic cities and their heritage. Through the use of historical geospatial mapping (HisGIS), which overlays different, abstract data layers and uses a uniform legend, the chapter briefly explores Rotterdam, Hamburg and London as port cities with changing spatial and institutional constellations in a way that develops a new framework for research on heritage and sustainable development.