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<strong>Delta</strong> <strong>Atelier</strong>
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Circular City ports<br />
Explorative trajectory<br />
6 Circular City ports<br />
Explorative trajectory<br />
7<br />
Con<strong>text</strong> of the trajectory<br />
This explorative trajectory, initiated by OVAM (Public<br />
Waste Agency of Flanders) and Vlaanderen Circulair<br />
(Circular Flanders), deals with the future transformation<br />
of ports, where circularity will play an important<br />
role. Both in the publication of ‘Low Lands 2020-<br />
2100’ as well in con<strong>text</strong> of the IABR-2018+2020-THE<br />
MISSING LINK and its Brussels’ component ‘You<br />
Are Here’, Circular Ports are a reoccuring subject.<br />
‘The Circular Harbours of the <strong>Delta</strong>’ was a theme on<br />
the <strong>Delta</strong> Working Conference of 4-7 July 2018.<br />
In this conference, four trajectories were set out, focusing<br />
on the four scales on which circular harbours<br />
work: the circular company, the city port (city-port<br />
interface), the port region (the regional range of the<br />
port) and the delta region (circular mainframe).<br />
Architecture Workroom Brussels and 1010au take<br />
up the assignment on the ‘circular city ports’ and investigate<br />
the shared chances and challenges, connections<br />
and opportunities by looking at different<br />
city ports and their current circular initiatives.<br />
Why city ports?<br />
Over the past decades, many port cities have lost<br />
their port activities and maritime identity. The concept<br />
of the port city became blurred when we were<br />
entering a post-industrial era. The continuous upscaling<br />
and environmental risks of industrial ports<br />
pushed them out of the city, causing a disconnection<br />
with it. The activities which characterised the<br />
city ports were weakened. Today, a revival of the city<br />
port is happening. Many stakeholders and experts<br />
envision the city ports as a space were cities and<br />
ports can meet and interact again, reinforcing their<br />
commercial and productive relations which were<br />
present in the past. A different mindset and new<br />
urgencies are the driving forces behind this revival.<br />
Since the financial crisis in 2008, the long period<br />
of slow and uneven grow and the financial sobriety,<br />
the ongoing globalization showed its negative aspects,<br />
which ask now for alternative views. Climate<br />
change and the awareness of the scarce resources<br />
and materials forces us to rethink our economy<br />
from linear towards circular, which is regenerative<br />
and wastefree. This con<strong>text</strong> has obviously an impact<br />
on the cities, regions and ports. Local services<br />
and infrastructures in cities will be developed to accomodate<br />
a more local production and processing<br />
of goods, but will in the meanwhile still be connected<br />
to national and international networks via waterways.<br />
Urban area’s as the city port can play in important<br />
role in this changing con<strong>text</strong>.<br />
What is a circular city port?<br />
Ports are of strategic importance in the transition<br />
to circularity and the <strong>Delta</strong> of Belgium and the<br />
Netherlands is a place which is rich of important<br />
ports for Europe.<br />
Momentum for ports<br />
First, there is a geopolitical dynamic. The global<br />
conjuncture and a different mindset are driving this<br />
change. On one hand, since the 2008 financial crisis,<br />
the long period of slow and uneven grow and<br />
the financial sobriety, next to the financial volatility<br />
caused by globalization, showed its negative sides<br />
and opened the way to rethink our global dependency.<br />
On the other hand, the combined action of<br />
climate change and resource scarcity forces us to<br />
rethink our economy towards increased circularity.<br />
This changed con<strong>text</strong> will impact our cities, regions<br />
and ports. Local production and processing of<br />
goods will have to find a place in them. Distribution<br />
will have to rely less on the already congested road<br />
transport and more on water and rail alternatives.<br />
Throughput will shrink, and ports will need to host a<br />
wider range of activities. The spectacular growth of<br />
the Flemish ports in the last decades is characterized<br />
by more handling capacity and infrastructure<br />
works. Since 2010, the con<strong>text</strong> has changed dramatically.<br />
The challenges are related to economic uncertainties,<br />
slowed growth, competition on the world<br />
stage, the rapid technological changes, new material<br />
flows… determine the port’s future agenda. Port<br />
companies formulate major ambitions for transition<br />
and transformation tasks. New themes, which were<br />
rarely discussed earlier, quickly find their way into<br />
vision notes, business plans, events and research.<br />
This concerns sustainability policy, the energy transition,<br />
the transition to a post-carbon economy, circular<br />
economy, digitization and automation. It is not<br />
only the vision that is important, there is a willingness<br />
to take action at each port with the design of<br />
concrete plans and projects. Public and private parties<br />
are taking initiatives at various levels to create<br />
more added value. Openness, cooperation, community<br />
building, diversification, innovation and activating<br />
the interface between port-city-region are<br />
recurring elements. The trade war between China,<br />
US, UK and other main companies make that there<br />
is a shift in the globalization.<br />
Secondly, the logistical and industrial activities in<br />
the port are crucial as a direct and indirect source<br />
of income and employment. This employment and<br />
share of GDP has not been definitively acquired. The<br />
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Circular City ports<br />
Explorative trajectory<br />
8 Circular City ports<br />
Explorative trajectory<br />
9<br />
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Key issue 1<br />
Today there is a lack in knowing and balancing<br />
new and existing actors in order to strategize<br />
towards further circularity.<br />
How do we detect, attract and keep the right actors<br />
in order to activate circular development managing<br />
and curating the right synergies?<br />
How do we detect, attract and keep the right actors<br />
in order to further circular dynamics and synergies?<br />
The issue is finding and attracting the right actors,<br />
new or existing, in order to activate circular developments.<br />
There is the need to manage this process<br />
and curate the right synergies.<br />
Furthering circularity is finding new actors, but at<br />
the same time is also developing new relations, collaborations<br />
and synergies with existing actors. It<br />
can be considered an essential factor to understand<br />
these relations to curate the right synergies.<br />
In this sense it is important to look at the actor level,<br />
how there are different needs and ambitions, and<br />
furthermore to understand the facilities needed for a<br />
possible coalition of actors to work together. It is important<br />
to build up strategies around the process of<br />
attraction of actors, and, moreover, there is the need<br />
to plan and design the management process for the<br />
selection and location of the new companies. Such<br />
a transition process, towards more circularity, could<br />
revolve around working together with key companies,<br />
that could be the one starting up the process.<br />
Directions<br />
● gathering knowledge on what is there; ambitions,<br />
types of companies,other actors, stages<br />
of transformation (company, area)<br />
● Investigate new kind of facilities, either adapted<br />
to nourish and attract certain types of companie,<br />
either open proeftuin model.<br />
● experiment combined pallet of services in order<br />
to provide specific facilities for specific<br />
needs; infrastructure + permit + network +<br />
growth opportunity (via concession-management,<br />
zoning)<br />
● Provide continuity for companies, in order to<br />
invest, and growing through time<br />
● Envision a comprehensive strategy balancing<br />
new and existing realities (concession strategy<br />
at different level)<br />
position of the seaports and the port economy must<br />
be maintained in a changing environment, but it also<br />
has a renewed interest.<br />
Thirdly, in the last decades, the port cities have<br />
lost their port activities and maritime identity. The<br />
concept of the port city became blurred when we<br />
started entering a post-industrial era. The continuous<br />
up-scaling and environmental risks of industrial<br />
ports pushed them out of the city, causing a disconnection<br />
with it. Consequently, the old interdependencies<br />
between the city and its port weakened. The<br />
freed up space of the port in the city is converted<br />
to a waterfront housing location, where the development<br />
of housing is taking over this productive site.<br />
However, in the last years, the valuability of waterfront<br />
locations inside the city is reconsidered, which<br />
results in a revival of the urban port area for fitting<br />
economical activities or new logistics. It is recognized<br />
as a strategic location with economic importance.<br />
This renewed attention towards the city port<br />
sees this area as a place of production and intermodality.<br />
Many stakeholders and experts envision<br />
the city ports as a space where cities and ports can<br />
meet and interact again, reinforcing their commercial<br />
and productive relationships which were present<br />
in the past.<br />
Con<strong>text</strong> of the trajectory<br />
It is clear that ports have a strategic position in the<br />
transition towards more circularity. This transformation<br />
task has been mentioned by several previous<br />
events, publications, studies… The trajectory responds<br />
in this way to the results of the publication<br />
‘Low Lands 2020-2100. A future exploration’ (Lage<br />
Landen 2020-2100. Een toekomstverkenning), the<br />
<strong>Delta</strong> <strong>Atelier</strong>, IABR-2018+2020-THE MISSING LINK<br />
and the various studies, processes and practices<br />
concerning city ports in the <strong>Delta</strong> region of Flanders<br />
and the Netherlands. Nowadays, there is the search<br />
for methods to bridge the gap between long-term<br />
ambitions and current practices. To bridge this gap<br />
a first step was taken on the Working Conference of<br />
the <strong>Delta</strong> <strong>Atelier</strong> in July 2018 in Rotterdam.
Circular City ports<br />
Explorative trajectory<br />
10<br />
Key issue 2<br />
Today data and knowledge is collected but<br />
not collective, lacking a shared platform to become<br />
operational.<br />
How do you organize exchange and collaboration on<br />
knowledge and/of flows?<br />
How do you collect and manage data on flows, for<br />
(other) companies to act upon?<br />
The issue is the collecting of information on the flows<br />
crossing a certain area. In order to have good data to<br />
act upon, trust is needed as this information is sensitive.<br />
Companies have built up a lot of expertise.<br />
Collaboration among different actors are taking place<br />
only if there is a trustful environment. Companies<br />
competition is not helping the collaboration between<br />
them, slowing down the possible connections and<br />
new links that could be built. There is a need for a<br />
certain management and curating of information.<br />
This could overlap with the provision of infrastructure<br />
able to facilitate the exchange in knowledge<br />
and speed up the learning process.<br />
It is possible to notice the need of providing a set<br />
of information, a body of knowledge (data, tools,<br />
know-how) that should be common and available in<br />
a neutral ground setting.<br />
Directions<br />
● collect knowledge on flows and operational<br />
functioning of companies<br />
● constitution of neutral ground or intermediate<br />
body (trust, tackling competition)<br />
● Intermediate figure that could play the role of<br />
“matchmaker”, enhancing new collaborations<br />
of the different actors using the knowledge<br />
and data<br />
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