The Regeneration Of Waterfronts

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Waterfronts kept their prominence for ages in history. While settling by the water has always been a major factor in urban development, waterfront cities gained power for their port characteristics. In the course of urbanisation, port cities initially began to act as the core of all economic activities. This part of the city represented the core of the city, its main marketplace and its identity. Through concentration of production activities at collective centres, globalization trends entailed the need for greater ports and this way followed by relocation of harbour activities independently far from central areas of the city. The relocation of port activities paved the way for new challenges in the city development, while waterfront districts gradually lost their initial role and function, therefor valuable parts of the city turned into abandoned brownfields with the urgent need of regeneration. Regeneration of waterfront sites opened up possibilities for creation of new urban spaces where industrial buildings are converted into social, cultural or commercial uses, together giving a brand new image of the city. …show more content…

The ‘old economy’ of Europe can be described as one of trade and production, where production traditionally can be found near resources and areas of distribution. The actual production of goods is largely disappearing towards Asia, making the productive economy of Western Europe largely disappear. The current economy is based on services, as well as a production of knowledge, rather than a production of goods. This ‘new economy’, called information economy or creative economy, seems to concentrate even more in the city, as it depends very much on knowledge and cultural institutions. Information, knowledge, and creativity are the new raw materials of such an economy

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