The urban littoral frontier : land reclamation in the history of human settlements

The urban waterfront may be regarded as the littoral frontier of human settlement. Typically, over the years, it advances, sometimes retreats, where terrestrial and aquatic processes interact and frequently contest this margin of occupation. Because most towns and cities are sited beside water bodies, many of these urban centers on or close to the sea, their physical expansion is constrained by the existence of aquatic areas in one or more directions from the core. It is usually much easier for new urban development to occur along or inland from the waterfront. Where other physical constraints, such as rugged hills or mountains, make expansion difficult or expensive, building at greater densities or construction on steep slopes is a common response. This kind of development, though technically feasible, is usually more expensive than construction on level or gently sloping land, however. Moreover, there are many reasons for developing along the shore or riverfront in preference to using sites further inland. The high cost of developing existing dry land that presents serious construction difficulties is one reason for creating new land from adjacent areas that are permanently or periodically under water. Another reason is the relatively high value of artificially created land close to the urban centre when compared with the value of existing developable space at a greater distance inland. The creation of space for development is not the only motivation for urban expansion into aquatic areas. Commonly, urban places on the margins of the sea, estuaries, rivers or great lakes are, or were once, ports where shipping played an important role in the economy. The demand for deep waterfronts to allow ships to berth and for adjacent space to accommodate various port facilities has encouraged the advance of the urban land area across marginal shallows in ports around the world. The space and locational demands of port related industry and commerce, too, have contributed to this process. Often closely related to these developments is the generation of waste, including domestic refuse, unwanted industrial by-products, site formation and demolition debris and harbor dredgings. From ancient times, the foreshore has been used as a disposal area for waste from nearby settlements, a practice that continues on a huge scale today. Land formed in this way has long been used for urban development, despite problems that can arise from the nature of the dumped material and the way in which it is deposited. Disposal of waste material is a major factor in the creation of new urban land. Pollution of the foreshore and other water margin wetlands in this way encouraged the idea that the reclamation of these areas may be desirable on public health grounds. With reference to examples from various parts of the world, the historical development of the urban littoral frontier and its effects on the morphology and character of towns and cities are illustrated and discussed. The threat of rising sea levels and the heritage value of many waterfront areas are other considerations that are addressed.

Habitat enhancing marine structures: Creating habitat in urban waters

Although maritime regions support a large portion of the world’s human population, their value as habitat for other species is overlooked. Urban structures that are built in the marine environment are not designed or managed for the habitat they provide, and are built without considering the communities of marine organisms that could colonize them (Clynick et al., 2008). However, the urban waterfront may be capable of supporting a significant proportion of regional aquatic biodiversity (Duffy-Anderson et al., 2003). While urban shorelines will never return to their original condition, some scientists think that the habitat quality of urban waterfronts could be significantly improved through further research and some design modifications, and that many opportunities exist to make these modifications (Russel et al., 1983, Goff, 2008). Habitat enhancing marine structures (or HEMS) are a potentially promising approach to address the impact of cities on marine organisms including habitat fragmentation and degradation. HEMS are a type of habitat improvement project that are ecologically engineered to improve the habitat quality of urban marine structures such as bulkheads and docks for marine organisms. More specifically, HEMS attempt to improve or enhance the physical habitat that organisms depend on for survival in the inter- and sub-tidal waterfronts of densely populated areas. HEMS projects are targeted at areas where human-made structures cannot be significantly altered or removed. While these techniques can be used in suburban or rural areas restoration or removal is preferred in these settings, and HEMS are resorted to only if removal of the human-made structure is not an option. Recent research supports the use of HEMS projects. Researchers have examined the communities found on urban structures including docks, bulkheads, and breakwaters. Complete community shifts have been observed where the natural shoreline was sandy, silty, or muddy. There is also evidence of declines in community composition, ecosystem functioning, and increases in non-native species abundances in assemblages on urban marine structures. Researchers have identified two key differences between these substrates including the slope (seawalls are vertical; rocky shores contain multiple slopes) and microhabitat availability (seawalls have very little; rocky shores contain many different types). In response, researchers have suggested designing and building seawalls with gentler slopes or a combination of horizontal and vertical surfaces. Researchers have also suggested incorporating microhabitat, including cavities designed to retain water during low tide, crevices, and other analogous features (Chapman, 2003; Moreira et al., 2006) (PDF contains 4 pages)

SAMUDRA Report No. 62, July 2012

Contents: Customary Rights in South Africa. Artisanal Fishworkers of Brazil. US Waterfronts. Sea Piracy in Nigeria. Civil Society Guidelines on SSF. SBSTTA 16th Session.

Proposta metodológica para análise da qualidade urbanística de Frentes de Água

Dissertação apresentada à Universidade Fernando Pessoa como parte dos requisitos para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Arquitetura e Urbanismo

Imported and translated landscapes: Buenos Aires nineteenth-century waterfront parks

The study of urban and landscape history has recently questioned the peripheral condition of certain areas and re-examined them as valuable parts of an international network . In such a framework cities are not only recipients of foreign influences but active agents in their own urban transformations. Meanwhile, the regeneration of urban waterfronts appears increasingly in the spotlight globally , but the re-use of the waterfront as public space began more than a century ago.

Buenos Aires is an example of a ‘peripheral’ city, in which waterfront parks at the end of the nineteenth century were the product of international influences combined with local conditions, needs and expertise. Buenos Aires developed a continuous increase and diversity of leisure waterfront space, making it different from most European or ‘central’ cities. This paper will analyse the process of translation of landscape design on Buenos Aires’ waterfront while outlining the significance of waterfront parks to the city and its growing urban population.

Imported landscapes:Buenos Aires nineteenth century waterfront parks

The study of urban and landscape history has recently questioned the peripheral condition of certain areas and re-examined them as valuable parts of an international network . Meanwhile, the regeneration of urban waterfronts appears increasingly in the spotlight globally , while the re-use of the waterfront as public space actually began more than a century ago.
Buenos Aires is an example of a peripheral city, where waterfront parks at the end of the nineteenth century were the product of international influences combined with local conditions, needs and expertise. This paper will analyse the process of translation of landscape design on Buenos Aires’ waterfront while outlining the significance of waterfront parks for civilising the growing urban population.

Participação de instituições locais em projetos de revitalização urbana : o caso do Projeto Porto Maravilha na cidade do Rio de Janeiro

Dentro do contexto do desenvolvimento urbano sustentável, diversas metrópoles estão revitalizando áreas centrais degradadas. Regiões portuárias são exemplos de áreas degradadas que têm passado por processos de revitalização. O envolvimento de diferentes atores locais (Poder Público, mercado e sociedade civil) no processo de decisão e também durante a implementação das obras de revitalização deve ser visto como ponto chave na garantia de um processo transparente e particular para cada revitalização executada. Para subsidiar tal abordagem, este trabalho utiliza como referencial teórico a gestão social e seus critérios do processo de discussão, pluralismo e bem-comum para a implementação de políticas públicas, onde a multiplicidade de atores deve participar em igualdade de direitos nos processos decisórios deliberativos na busca do bem-estar social. Na cidade do Rio de Janeiro, em 2009, a instituição por lei da Operação Urbana Consorciada da Área de Especial Interesse Urbanístico da Região Portuária do Rio de Janeiro garante que o projeto de revitalização chamado Porto Maravilha possa ser implementado. Por ser fruto de uma Operação Urbana Consorciada, o projeto deve contar com a participação de proprietários, moradores, usuários e dos investidores para revitalizar uma área de aproximadamente cinco milhões de metros quadrados. Assim, considerada a importância de diferentes atores para garantir um processo decisório legítimo e considerada a obrigatoriedade da participação de diferentes atores na implementação do projeto Porto Maravilha, o objetivo deste trabalho é identificar como as instituições locais participam no Projeto Porto Maravilha. Para tanto, realizou-se pesquisa de campo por meio da participação em reuniões das instâncias participativas na região portuária, da aplicação de questionários às instituições locais e da realização de entrevistas semiestruturadas com representantes das instituições locais e outros atores envolvidos com o projeto. Para o tratamento dos dados obtidos utilizou-se o método da análise de conteúdo com grade mista, cujas categorias definidas foram relacionadas com os critérios do processo de discussão, pluralismo e bem-comum da gestão social e um tratamento estatístico para a elaboração de uma matriz que permitiu relacionar o grau de participação e a posição das instituições locais frente ao projeto. Para o tratamento final, a triangulação metodológica foi utilizada e os resultados foram confrontados com o referencial teórico. Os resultados mostraram que a revitalização da região portuária despertou interesse para que instâncias participativas que já existiam na região se reestruturassem e que novas instâncias fossem criadas. Independente de serem a favor ou contra o projeto, há uma mobilização por parte das instituições locais em se envolverem no projeto, embora este não possa se caracterizar como um processo deliberativo de construção conjunta definido a partir de um consenso, pois, as diretrizes gerais do projeto Porto Maravilha foram instituídas por lei. A maioria das instituições locais concorda e participa do acompanhamento e da implementação do projeto por meio do compartilhamento com o Estado da responsabilidade de criar espaços educativos e investir em programas sociais que possam garantir a melhoria das condições de vida da população local.

Intervenções urbanas em espaços de desvalia. Transformar para valorizar.

The worldwide transformations that took place in the 20th century redefined the cities fate in this new century. The consolidation of urbanization, the technological revolution that fostered globalization, the economic restructuration and informalization, modified space and time concepts, bringing populations closer together and provoking political transformations. They made contemporaries cities protagonists of world events and as a consequence of such processes, worthlessness spaces appeared and cities all over the world started to bet on the strategy of acting in this problematic areas through initiatives aimed at promoting intentional transformations to obtain a multidimensional valorization urban, financial, environmental, cultural and social. In short, such urban initiatives intend to make cities more competitive, sustainable, creative, productive and fair. Also in Brazil, countless worthless spaces appeared in waterfronts, central areas, and deactivated industrial/urbanized areas, as well as in sub-used or misused areas lacking infrastructure and public services where it is imperative and urgent to perform urban initiatives. This research proposes as a thesis that urban initiatives, when carried out based on an adequate politicalinstitutional model, transform and give value to worthless spaces in their multiple dimensions, offering better quality of life to their residents and helping to fulfill the social role of the city. We intend to prove this thesis through the analysis of national and international cases and by introducing thoughts, critique and guidelines as a contribution to the improvement of the urban initiatives implementation processes, in particular to those regarding worthless areas of Brazilian cities

What is the Downeast Fisheries Heritage Trail?

The Downeast Fisheries Trail is an educational trail that showcases active and historic fisheries heritage sites, such as fish hatcheries, aquaculture facilities, fishing harbors, clam flats, processing plants and other related public places in an effort to educate residents and visitors about the importance of the region’s maritime heritage and the role of marine resources to the area’s economy.

Playas y paseos marítimos. El nuevo paisaje urbano de Benidorm (1956-1986)

Esta comunicación recorre la evolución del paisaje urbano de Benidorm, como ciudad vertical (acotado entre dos fechas clave: 1956 y 1986), con la aprobación de su PGOU, inspirado en un urbanismo funcionalista (CIAM), enfocado a un turismo de masas en aumento año tras año. Acontecimientos, turismo y planeamiento justificaban las diferentes ampliaciones urbanas de Benidorm, sometidas a constantes modificaciones y que se reflejaba en una libertad a través del análisis y relación entre el nuevo skyline vertical (de bloques y rascacielos de uso privado) y el tándem paseo marítimo-playa (de espacios urbanos de uso público). Para este seguimiento se hace necesario conocer cómo se construye la propia ciudad y, en particular, sus nuevos frentes marítimos que constituyen la postal más importante de cualquier ciudad turística litoral –su imagen–, la que se publicita como reclamo: la fachada que se extiende tras sus playas y cuyo éxito depende de la capacidad de articulación los espacios públicos que entrelazan la trama urbana con su frontera marítima.