Table Of ContentEuropean Port Cities and Urban
Regeneration
Culture- and event-led regeneration have been catalysts for the transformation
of redundant urban port areas and for the reframing of the image of many
port cities, which notably feature among mega-event bidding and host cities.
However, there is little understanding of the impacts of these processes on port-
city relationships, as well as of how port city cultures shape mega events and the
related regeneration strategies. The book examines the underexplored mutual
links between, on the one hand, urban and socio-economic regeneration
driven by cultural and sporting mega events and, on the other hand, the spatial,
political and symbolic ties between cities and their ports.
By adopting a cross-national, comparative perspective, with in-depth case
studies (Hull, Rotterdam, Genoa and Valencia) and examples from other
port cities across the world where mega events were held, the book engages
with issues such as the tension between port and cultural uses, reactions and
opposition to mega events in port cities, clashing urban imaginaries drawing
on port activity and culture, the role of port authorities and companies in the
city’s cultural life, the spectacularisation and commodification of local maritime
culture and heritage, processes of cultural demaritimisation and remaritimisation
of port cities.
T he book is therefore a contribution towards the bridging of port city and
mega-event studies, and it provides insights for port city policy makers and mega-
event promoters, drawing from a range of international experiences. The
book also shows how societal and political change in the current ‘ontologically
insecure’ times may undermine the very paradigm of culture- and event-led
regeneration in the years to come.
E nrico Tommarchi is Lecturer in Town Planning at London South Bank
University. He took part in the JPICH-funded project HOMEE (Heritage
Opportunities/threats within Mega-Events in Europe) and in the evaluation
of Hull UK City of Culture 2017, undertaken by the Culture, Place and
Policy Institute (CPPI) of the University of Hull, where he completed his
PhD. His research focuses on culture- and event-led regeneration and port-city
relationships. He is a spatial planner by training (IUAV University of Venice)
and he is interested in the geographies of port and coastal cities, the socio-
spatial and symbolic outcomes of mega events, culture-led urban regeneration.
Routledge Advances in Regional Economics,
Science and Policy
Outsourcing in European Emerging Economies
Territorial Embeddedness and Global Business Services
Łukasz Mamica
The Regional Economics of Technological Transformations
I ndustry 4.0 and Servitisation in European Regions
R oberta Capello and Camilla Lenzi
M anaging Knowledge, Governing Society
S ocial Theory, Research Policy and Environmental Transition
A lain-Marc Rieu
T he Economics of Sustainable Transformation
E dited by Anna Szelągowska and Aneta Pluta-Zaremba
P lanning and the Multi-local Urban Experience
T he Power of Lifescapes
K immo Lapintie
E uropean Port Cities and Urban Regeneration
E xploring Cultural and Sporting Mega Events at the Water’s Edge
E nrico Tommarchi
D esigning Smart and Resilient Cities for a Post-Pandemic World
M etropandemic Revolution
A nthony Larsson and Andreas Hatzigeorgiou
P olitical Geography of Cities and Regions
C hanging Legitimacy and Identity
K ees Terlouw
F or more information about this series, please visit: w ww.routledge.com/series/
RAIRESP
European Port Cities and
Urban Regeneration
Exploring Cultural and Sporting Mega
Events at the Water’s Edge
Enrico Tommarchi
First published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 Enrico Tommarchi
T he right of Enrico Tommarchi to be identified as author of this work
has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
A ll rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
T rademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
B ritish Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
L ibrary of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
N ames: Tommarchi, Enrico, author.
T itle: European port cities and urban regeneration: exploring cultural and
sporting mega events at the water’s edge/Enrico Tommarchi.
D escription: Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge,
2023. | Series: Routledge advances in regional economics, science and
policy | Includes bibliographical references and index.
I dentifiers: LCCN 2022005001 (print) | LCCN 2022005002 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780367761769 (hardback) | ISBN 9780367761752 (paperback) |
ISBN 9781003165811 (ebook)
S ubjects: LCSH: Urban renewal—Europe. | Port cities—Europe. |
Hosting of sporting event—Europe.
C lassification: LCC HT178.E8 T66 2023 (print) | LCC HT178.E8 (ebook) |
DDC 307.3/416094—dc23/eng/20220202
L C record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022005001
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022005002
ISBN: 978-0-367-76176-9 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-76175-2 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-16581-1 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003165811
Typeset in Bembo
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
For Cristina and Luca
Contents
List of figures viii
List of tables x
Acknowledgements xi
List of abbreviations xii
1 Introduction: exploring port cities of culture
and events 1
2 Bridging port-city relationships, urban regeneration
and mega events 16
3 Waterfront redevelopment and the rationale for
hosting mega events 51
4 Port cities and event-led regeneration in ontologically
insecure times 86
5 The spatiality of event-led regeneration at the
port-city interface 120
6 The politics of event-led regeneration in port cities 148
7 Event-led regeneration and symbolic port-city links 171
8 Conclusions: a forward look at port cities of culture
and events 210
I ndex 233
Figures
1.1 Matrix of port-city relationships 6
2.1 General cycle of transformation at the port-city interface 24
3.1 Population time series for the case-study cities 55
3.2 Evolution of the port of Hull 56
3.3 Evolution of the port of Rotterdam 58
3.4 Evolution of the port of Genoa 59
3.5 Evolution of the port of Valencia 61
3.6 The Deep aquarium in Hull 62
3.7 The Erasmus Bridge and the skyline of Kop van Zuid 64
3.8 Palau de la Música (top left) and Ciutat de les Arts i les
Ciències 65
3.9 Humber Street in Hull’s Fruit Market 75
3.10 Las Palmas building 76
3.11 Bigo, Piazza delle Feste and Biosfera in Genoa’s Porto Antico 78
3.12 Galata Museo del Mare in Genoa’s Darsena Comunale 79
3.13 Port America’s Cup in 2007 80
4.1 Major events and key socio-economic and political
events in Hull, Rotterdam, Genoa and Valencia 90
4.2 Bars and restaurants on Humber Street in the Fruit
Market area 104
4.3 Overnight stays in the four case-study cities 105
4.4 Shops and restaurants in Porto Antico 106
4.5 Mural in El Cabanyal-El Canyamelar against gentrification
in the neighbourhood 110
5.1 Poem on the ‘wall of shame’ in June 2018 131
5.2 Murals on the ‘wall of shame’ in June 2018 131
5.3 Weekday traffic on Castle Street 136
5.4 Kijk-kubus on Rotterdam’s Oude Haven 138
5.5 Sopraelevata in Genoa’s Porto Antico 138
5.6 Harbour ring road in Valencia and former main straight
and pit lane of Valencia Street Circuit 140
6.1 Blade in Queen Victoria Square in January 2017 158
7.1 Historic port cranes in front of Magazzini del Cotone 179
Figures ix
7.2 Redeveloped waterfronts across Spain: Marina Real Juan
Carlos I in Valencia (top left and right), Muelle 1 in Málaga
(bottom left), Parc del Fòrum in Barcelona (bottom right) 180
7.3 America’s Cup team bases in 2018 181
7.4 Sailboats, cranes and lighthouse in Leuvehaven 185
7.5 Panoramic viewpoint in front of Hotel New York 185
7.6 Screen at Rotterdam Central Station 186
7.7 Panoramic viewpoint at Magazzini del Cotone 187
7.8 Cranes in the working commercial port visible from
Magazzini del Cotone’s viewpoint 187
7.9 Porto Antico as visible from a boat tour of the port 188
7.10 Working port area with the Lanterna in the background,
as visible from a boat tour of the port 189
7.11 Waterfront redevelopment in Barcelona, driven by the
1992 Olympic Games 192
7.12 Maritime heritage assets involved in the H ull: Yorkshire’s
Maritime City scheme 194
7.13 Maritime cultural quarter developing in Rotterdam’s
Oude Haven and Leuvehaven 195
7.14 Maritime-related cultural assets in Genoa’s Porto Antico
and maritime cultural quarter in the Darsena Comunale 196
7.15 Valencia’s Museu de la Mar proposed venues 197
