Speaker
Description
Setting the context: global pressures/water challenges
Cities are under pressure due to multiple and conflicting social, economic, and environmental challenges. Water cities such as coastal territories, river cities and delta regions are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate extremes which are pushing public authorities to identify adaptive interventions across scales and time. According to a recent UN report (2022) sea levels could rise up to two metres by 2100, challenging the life of large cities located along the coasts. Researches have warned that using seawalls or massive storm surges to protect cities against sea level rise can be counterproductive and make rising waters even worse in the long run. Rigid infrastructures alone will not save water cities from flooding. On the contrary, adapting to changing water conditions will require more structural changes and cultural shifts. This contribution argues that we need new interpretative models to approach and understand cities in order adapt them to changing water condition.
Why does water matter today?
Water is the physical and liquid space where today many challenges are coming together. Dealing with water today means understanding how to adapt to changing water condition. It means dealing with global economies, considering that 90% of world trade passes through the sea. It means studying cultures and history as it is thanks to the sea and ports that countless civilizations, religions and languages were born which we still look at today with respect and admiration. It means dealing with energy and landscapes of the new industrialization together with a system of territories in crisis, infrastructures and architectures to be rethought in the short, medium and long term.
Water is about migration, wars and political games of powerful actors who aim to control the sea as an instrument to control the world. Port cities, river cities, coastal and delta landscapes are therefore characterized by a constantly changing conditions at the intersection of land and water, always looking for new balances.
They are are porous, very fragile and complex systems subject to spatial, social and environmental transitions. They are also among the most vibrant spaces due to the presence of fertile soils, natural landscapes, cultures and the histories of long-durée that make them worth studying. Urban disciplines, however, have traditionally considered planning, limiting its scope mainly to terrestrial areas, while delegating the planning and management of maritime spaces to sector-specific disciplines (e.g. port regulatory plans). There is a need to guide urban disciplines towards a broader and more organic vision able to incorporate the water dimension.
Methodology: scenario thinking
This contribution brings together different materials and educational experiences based on scenario thinking approach. It analyses three scenarios developed within the “Adaptive Strategies” and “Urban Archipelago” design studios at the TU Delft. Scenarios fit perfectly within contemporary design approaches and the idea of spaces that Bauman has defined as liquid. In a liquid and porous society different visions coexist and collide and the role of the scenario is that of defining a vision, a fascination, an image capable of tracing a direction, leading the current, in a context made up of differences, complexities, and conflicts. Scenarios become reflections, points for a discussion. They are not meant to be implemented but to create awareness and to generate new narratives for the future of cities dealing with water.
References
Amenta, L., & De Martino, P. (2018). WASTESCAPES IN PORT CITIES. NAPLES AND ROTTERDAM:A SPATIAL AND INSTITUTIONAL COMPARISON ON THE ROLE OF PORTS AS PROMOTERS OF CIRCULAR ECONOMY. BDC. Bollettino del Dipartimento di Conservazione dei Beni Architettonici ed Ambientali, 18(2), 159-181. doi:https://doi.org/10.6092/2284-4732/6235
Bauman, Z. (2011). Modernita' Liquida. Italia: Laterza
DE MARTINO, P., HEIN, C. and HANNA, J. 2024. Adaptive Strategies for Dunkirk: A TU Delft Perspective. PORTUSplus. 17, (Dec. 2024).
De Martino, P. (2023). Naples: a city away from water. Planning Perspectives, 1-16. doi:10.1080/02665433.2023.2283867
Hein, C. (2020). Adaptive Strategies for Water Heritage: Past, Present and Future. Cham, Switzerland: Springer
Tosi, M. C. (2013). Toward an atlas of European Delta Landscape (List Ed. Vol. Babel). Italy: LIST Lab Laboratorio Internazionale Editoriale.
| Keywords | water, port cities, scenarios, adaptive strategies |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | Yes |
