New Futures for Older Ports: Synergistic Development in a Global Urban System
Abstract
:1. Introduction
- zones of creative destruction and creative experiments in obsolescent areas;
- crossroads for transients and migrants, marine workers and cultural diaspora;
- zones of capital accumulation in the circuit of urban property;
- hubs for new social movements, socio-cultural enterprise, community initiatives, etc.
- accumulation of cultural built heritage, both new, recycled and obsolete.
2. Methodology
2.1. The Synergistic Approach
- ‘Functional adaptive systems’, which respond to short term pressures (with a metaphor of a mechanical system, with ‘engineering type’ resilience).
- ‘Complex Adaptive Systems’, respond to medium term environmental shifts and transitions to adapt (with a metaphor of a biological system, with ‘ecological’ resilience).
- ‘Synergistic Adaptive Systems’, driven more by human qualities of thinking, learning, questioning, creativity, strategy and reflexive awareness (a metaphor of a human system involving cognitive deliberation and personal development). The concept of resilience here focuses on these human qualities and their capacity not just to adapt, but to synthesise wider societal goals.
- On the left, a cluster of inter-connected ‘relational’ systems: economic, ecological, social, spatial etc. Each one shows a certain kind of community or eco-system; for instance, the ‘stakeholder’ level including public, private, civil, citizens etc. shows how each of these sectors can interact and collaborate with the others, and possibly form a wider agenda for community or society through collective action and learning.
- Above, there are alternative scenarios which can be generated by ‘divergent’ thinking, exploring the dynamics of change, and stretching the possible uncertainties, risks and conflicts;
- On the right, there are ‘emergent’ changes in these systems and their inter-connections, with effects seen in parallel; from linear change to complex and synergistic processes of cognitive learning, creative innovation, shared intelligence etc.
- The impacts of change can be visualized as vertical arrows showing ‘extraction-expropriation’, or ‘externality dumping’; i.e., where one system/community exerts some kind of power over another, or displaces its negative impacts to another.
- Below are alternative types of responses, i.e., policy interventions or business/enterprise models. Again, there are parallel tracks including direct functional responses, adaptation, and synergistic development.
2.2. Applications to Port City Development Pathways
2.2.1. Linear and Adaptive Pathways
- Economic dynamics: increasing external pressures of globalization, liberalization, modernization, capital accumulation, which extract the value from port functions and labour markets.
- Technological dynamics: freight movements, fishing, passenger shipping and ship building, all under threat from alternative modes or scales of production.
- Social dynamics: internal pressures and contradictions of migration, demographics, economic restructuring, cultural change; cumulative social deprivation, coming from a spiral of economic disinvestment, shrinking cities etc.
- Spatial dynamics: locally, much obsolete port infrastructure is a physical barrier to effective spatial development, even while the port function is moved to a container transhipment zone. More widely, urbanization, peri-urbanization, and spatial policy agendas for development or containment.
- Environmental impacts from the city on to the marine and coastal zone (water, air, solid waste, habitat and landuse change, etc.). In some locations, vulnerability to natural hazards and catastrophes (climate related sea level rise, storms, earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides etc.).
- Waterfront colonization and gentrification
- Community and small business displacement
- Social exclusion from new labour markets
- Global dependency and vulnerability to unstable markets
- Cultural destruction and commodification
- Over-ambitious mega-projects
- Ecological damage, waste, displacement.
2.2.2. Synergistic Pathways
- Multiple forms of value are integrated: economic, social, ecological, cultural, etc.
- Multiple stakeholders are integrated: private, public, civic, community, knowledge sectors
- Multiple ways of organizing resources work in parallel: neo-liberal free-markets may be one strand, alongside others such as communitarian, cooperative, social network, or multi-cultural partnership approaches.
- Shipping and waterfront activity moves to more diversified, niche, value-added activities, such as eco-tourism, research, high value manufacture. Then, economic value-added can be re-invested and returned to the city or city-region
- Local economy develops more diversified, innovative, knowledge based socio-economic model. Then, socio-cultural patterns can be re-invented, communities can be more resilient, and the vulnerable can be better protected.
- Cultural heritage can be managed as a multi-valent community resource: Urban design creates new connections between communities and marine resources. Then, cultural heritage can be more resilient to global shocks and responsive to local needs and resources, and enable space for creative development.
2.2.3. Cultural Heritage Issues
- Cultural heritage is not so much an ‘absolute’ resource as ‘relational’, depending on interactions and value-chains between material objects/places/histories/worldviews/communities/individuals;
- At the centre is ‘relational value’, not only functional/monetary, but social, ethical, and concerning the relations between people, ideas, experiences, objects or places.
- Values’ as such are less like fixed quantities, but more like potential energy, potential innovation or potential for relational activity (a metaphor is like money in the bank, which is only directly useful when it is spent, given or circulated).
- Urban cultural heritage has many layers and potentials which are often hidden, so its value generation capacity depends on a process of discovery. So, the creative challenge and opportunity of urban cultural heritage is a process of discovery of what is, what could be, and pathways towards it.
2.2.4. Summary—Synergistic Mapping of Integrated Development
STATE |
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SYSTEM PARADIGM | Linear systems (mechanical) | Complex adaptive, dynamic systems (biological) | Creative, cognitive, co-evolutionary systems (human) | |
COMBINED DYNAMIC | ||||
Ecology displacement | ||||
Extractive processes | Global finance: ecological extraction: cultural hegemony. | Global finance: ecological extraction: cultural hegemony. | Global finance: ecological extraction: cultural hegemony | |
Cultural integration | ||||
Cultural issues | ||||
‘heritage/dark history’ | ‘Cultural alienation’ | Commodification | Active multi-culturalism | |
Spatial issues | Waterfront infrastructure Industrial focus Suburban sprawl | (“Spatial 3.0”) Urban-rural links Neighbourhood renaissance Social reinvestment | ||
Hollowing & shrinking | New nodes & gateways | |||
STATE |
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Economic issues | Single sector vulnerability Branch plant dependency | Dis-investment Asset liquidation Structural unemployment | Service shift Tourism & leisure focus Property boom & bust | (“Economy 3.0”) Social reinvestment SME diversity Knowledge diversity Asset resilience |
Social issues | (“Community 3.0”) Social enterprise Active community development Learning society | |||
Family structure | Gender role conflict | Skills shift | ||
Governance issues | ||||
Knowledge based society | ||||
Ecological issues | Local pollution Local/global resources | Dereliction & disinvestment | Local selective cleaning Displacement to global resources | (‘Ecology 3.0’) Local-global balance Climate & resource protection strategy |
External-ization processes | Local & global environments: Social exclusion: Economic externalities: | Increasing externalities | Neo-liberal type management & re-framing of externalities | Internalization of externalities. |
3. Case Studies
3.1. The Case of Port Louis, Mauritius
3.2. The Case of Dubai, UAE
3.3. The Case of Liverpool, UK
- 1950s – post war restructuring, rapid decline of shipping and fishing
- 1960s – new cultural wave of ‘Merseybeat’ music
- 1970s – strategic planning for city-region of Merseyside (i.e., Liverpool with four others)
- 1980s – confrontation between socialist council and right wing national government and between union labour and large firms in automotive, chemicals, etc.
- 1980s – first wave of urban regeneration and reclamation: rise of cooperatives, partnerships and community initiatives
- 1990s – new realism, continued by New Labour government: expanding airport, new industries, culture-based waterfront regeneration, green infrastructure
- 2000s – second wave of large ‘urban development corporations’, and ‘housing market renewal’ areas; large city centre retail investment
- 2010– major redevelopment proposals in the former port areas in Birkenhead, as part of private sector driven ‘Ocean Gateway’. At the time, there were approximately 11 million square metres of empty and derelict land.
- Groundwork trusts in various parts of Merseyside, from the 1980s onwards: these brought together public and private sectors, civil society and residents, to work on derelict or unused urban or fringe land:
- Inner city housing cooperative and community technical aid centres, which reclaimed or built new neighbourhoods on an integrated social model:
- Waterfront initiatives which combined historic buildings with economic revitalization:
- City centre development trusts, which combined heritage and cultural industry SMEs, innovation, with the interests of owners, developers and users of buildings in low demand [33].
4. Comparison and Conclusions
Synergistic methods & tools | Generic issues for port cities | Mauritius case study | Dubai case study | Liverpool case study | |
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SCOPING & MAPPING | ‘how, where, which’ questions on the system structure & dynamics: horizontal links vertical links lateral links | port city system is ‘extractive’ of value. Conflict of labour/capital Conflict of spatial, economic, cultural | positive features: active democracy, growing economy, shift to knowledge base, hub for finance & tourism. Negative features: nepotism, inertia, sell-off to financial elite, economic divide & social exclusion. | The historic port is still a logistics centre for small/informal traders, now a vulnerable community. The wider urban agglomeration is a turbo-charged development machine with rapid linear expansion. | Long history of political conflict & economic turbulence: Cultural heritage is one of the key components of regeneration. |
DIVERGENCE | ‘What if’ questions for alternative pathways: test boundaries & assumptions: form new & challenging scenarios | Many ports are at a cross-roads, with diverging futures; obsolete structures are both problems & opportunities | Several schemes have looked at Mauritius’ future. The National Foresight sees 3 scenarios: ‘high economic growth’: ‘win-win’: & ‘social/ecological sustainability’. | National outlooks/scenarios not yet developed. Most strategic thinking is about continuation, with some visible shift towards social & environmental goals. | BAU is continuing decline: less likely is rapid re-investment for all-round economic success. For debate is a ‘paradigm shift’ in which the port city takes a new kind of role. |
LINEAR/ADAPTIVE CHANGE | ‘What then’ questions on new possibilities: emergence mapping of dynamic change & self-organization risk/opportunity assessment | linear/adaptive development paths can reproduce conflicts & failures: high value tourism & similar is vulnerable & extractive | linear development path is seen as economically, socially & ecologically unsustainable on a small & remote island. But it appears to be the current trend and could continue with the hub role of the island. | Very rapid linear-adaptive expansion is based on human resources (migrant labour): natural resources (oil/gas): & political security (autocracy). If any of these fail then a new phase may begin. | Continuing high value commercial investment tends to increase social & economic divides and vulnerability. The physical & cultural resource of the port & waterfront can encourage this. |
SYNERGISTIC CHANGE | ‘Synergistic’ questions on new possibilities on the cognitive level: synergistic foresight for shared intelligence creative thinking & learning process | synergistic pathways link social, cultural, economic, political, spatial agendas. waterfront & coast are opportunities, may need radical intervention. | Synergistic pathway for the port city is focused on a) a new concept of ocean economy: b) the question of trade balance & sustainable resource management. | A more synergistic pathway would prioritize re-balancing of social structure: ecological sustainability: cultural integration & urban liveability; political & citizen integration including migrant workers | There is debate on alternatives coming from former ‘sustainability’ and ‘community’ groups, now with newer types of ‘resilience’ and/or ‘prosperity’ groups. |
CONVER-GENCE | ‘So what’
questions, to bring possibilities back into focus: road-map for strategic planning assessment & evaluation | needs local/urban/regional integration. Plans depend on social entrepreneurs & creative capacity building. | An innovative program of knowledge-based enterprise & strategic policy intelligence is just being established. | Strategic planning on a synergistic basis is to be explored in the future. | Work is in progress in the UK & EU to explore what this alternative development pathway means and how it can work in practice. |
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
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Ravetz, J. New Futures for Older Ports: Synergistic Development in a Global Urban System. Sustainability 2013, 5, 5100-5118. https://doi.org/10.3390/su5125100
Ravetz J. New Futures for Older Ports: Synergistic Development in a Global Urban System. Sustainability. 2013; 5(12):5100-5118. https://doi.org/10.3390/su5125100
Chicago/Turabian StyleRavetz, Joe. 2013. "New Futures for Older Ports: Synergistic Development in a Global Urban System" Sustainability 5, no. 12: 5100-5118. https://doi.org/10.3390/su5125100