Circular City Ports - Workbook

City-port context of Le Havre
Open seaport along industrialised corridor
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1 Description of location in relation to other
(sea/) ports
The port of Le Havre is part of a HAROPA port alliance
with the ports of Rouen and Paris located on
the Seine axis. Located at the mouth of the river, it
enjoys a geographical position that makes it a strategic
hub for international trade, as it is located between
two global cities, London and Paris. It is also
the first port of call in the Northern Range, the main
commercial interface between Europe and the rest
of the world, and above all, it enjoys advantageous
nautical conditions with 24/7 accessibility, without
tidal or draught constraints. The port leads to
the English Channel and is very close to the Atlantic
Ocean, but bypasses the North Sea where there
are congested sea routes due to the presence of
very important European ports such as Rotterdam.
However, this advantageous location requires a better
connection to European transport networks in
the hinterland, which is not currently the case: there
is therefore a first challenge for Le Havre to connect
to this hinterland (88% of traffic is still carried by
road).
2 Description of current activities
The port of Le Havre handles 60% of container traffic
and 35% of crude oil imports. The port of Le
Havre is therefore a major maritime and logistical
platform at all levels. In 2011, 58% of container imports
came from Asia. This international recognition
is reflected in major investments, particularly in its
development zone, where major multinationals such
as Total, Total-Petrochimicals, Chevron and Renault
have set up operations, for a total of €1.5 billion invested
since 2008.
3 Description demographic/socio-economic
dynamics.
The industrial activities carried out in the port of Le
Havre, are representing the 22% of the city employment.
The port is a having a key role in the economic
development of the region.
4 Why, and in what way is circularity looked at?
The shipping sector plays a prevailing part in the
growth of developing countries. The port of Le
Havre has to cope with the various challenges related
to efficiency of the logistics chains, together
with continuous investment in new infrastructure.
In this sense, Haropa, composed by the port
of Le Havre and the French development agency, is
working toward the development of maritime economy
accompanying the port actors though the upcoming
transition, with provision of know-how and
new skills building. Haropa has developed a space
of nearly 500 hectares available for conversion. The
actors are supported by the port in setting up their
sustainable logistic systems.
5 Who gives substance to this, which partnerships/programmes/initiatives
are made?
The Haropa is one of the main projects taking place
in the port of Le Havre, building up a wider system
of sustainable logistics, supported by the local
port authority and the French development agency.
Interesting is, in this case, the collaboration at the
local and supra level, in order to build new strategies
in order to support the shift to a more sustainable
economy.
6 Is there already a discourse around cityports?
(Yes/no) Who is behind it and what are the ambitions/motives?
The development project “Quartiers Sud du Havre”,
at the city-port border, is placing the emphasis on
the interweaving of urban and port functions, in order
to create a real area of functional interaction. it
contributes to the concrete creation of a city-port
interface, as an urban objective around a functional
triptych, between residential, recreational and university
functions.