A port at the service of the local and regional economy
The port infrastructure should focus on logistical activities serving the regional production and distribution economy and allow for compatible economic uses.
Population stagnation in Europe, a growing preference for local consumption, reindustrialisation policies, self-production technologies such as 3D printing and greater ecological awareness –what is generally referred to as the “regionalisation of globalisation”– have made moderate growth forecasts for seaborne trade in the European Mediterranean in the coming decades, even though it is likely to increase worldwide. This process makes it necessary to define the role of port infrastructures in relation to their local and regional context.
In parallel with the recognition of the ecological value of coastlines and their importance for health, their economic potential has been discovered, linked to the possibility of accommodating complementary uses alongside purely logistical ones, ensuring that the needs of the environment in which they are embedded are better met. Moreover, we must not forget that the main function of port infrastructures is to serve the population in order to satisfy their basic needs as a priority.
Seaport operations and infrastructure have a fundamental role to play in providing for and reproducing the lives of people and communities. The port needs to be looked at from the perspective of people. This does not mean that port activity is not an extremely fundamental activity for the economy and economic development in general, as well as for global economic exchange –but it is not only that.
Jorge Sharp
Mayor of Valparaíso
You have to find realistically what your strengths are to be able to host a wide variety of activities and work within a dense urban setting.
Diane Oshima
Director of Planning & Environment, Port Of San Francisco (2017-2021)
While there had been an interest in turning the waterfront into urban uses, there was also a concern that we would abandon maritime uses altogether and that this voter measure said you must give first priority to maritime uses. But then, if you give first priority to maritime uses, you can look to see what other kinds of compatible uses would be acceptable.
Diane Oshima
Director of Planning & Environment, Port Of San Francisco (2017-2021)
Special care must be taken with integrated city-port-territory systems. These have a high ecological, urban and human value and the negative externalities of commercial activities have an even greater negative impact on them. There is a need to balance commercial activities that serve the metropolitan and regional economy with respect for human life and the ecosystem.
The port of the future will have to abandon trading activities that can be easily relocated, such as the exchange of containers from ship to ship without leaving the port. Instead, it will have to focus on trade activities that serve the regional manufacturing and distribution industries. At the same time, ports must use their ability to attract diverse and complementary activities to become a spatial asset in these densely populated systems.
Ports create a lot of jobs in different sectors. One trend we are seeing is the growth of logistics centers and logistical parks in indirect proximity to the port.
Fredrik Lindstål
Chairman of the Board of Stockholms Hamn AB – Ports of Stockholm
Cities, especially cities in developing countries, might make a better bargain with their [port] assets. […] In exchange for access to labor or some other asset, might require an offset investment in something else the city needs, like transit, housing, or a special industry. That give and take might be productive for many cities.
Keller Easterling
Designer, writer and professor at Yale
Finally, the performance of port infrastructure for the local and regional economy must also include economic compensation for the negative externalities that cities generate. Using the margins from port activity to boost the local economy is key to deepening the redistributive and value-adding capacity of the port.
Key Actions
- Design programmes for economic activities and compatible sectors.
- Facilitate administrative processes for the implementation of new activities.
- Densify with industrial, technical and innovative economic activities rooted in the region.
- Evaluate the benefits generated by the port activity by defining a system of compensation in the area.
Experts
Fredrik Lindstål
Chairman of the Board of Stockholms Hamn AB – Ports of Stockholm
Diane Oshima
Director of Planning & Environment, Port Of San Francisco (2017-2021)
Keller Easterling
Designer, writer and professor at Yale
Jorge Sharp
Mayor of Valparaíso