Port city metamorphosis: transformations of the relationship between the port and the city of Lisbon (original) (raw)

2012

Abstract

The evolution of ports in modern times has been defined by a change in port functions, caused by such factors as the development of technology on ships, of support equipment for the transport of merchandise or storage techniques, changes in the standards of international commerce, changes to the organisation of maritime transportation or the growth and increased complexity of global logistic chains. As a result of these changes, there has been a simultaneous evolution in the structure, morphology and extent of the spaces occupied by ports and complementary activities. In this context, the relationship between the port and city of Lisbon (Portugal) is characterised by a great complexity imprinted from the onset through the historic traditions that it holds and through the magnitude and intensity of a process that involves the main infra-structure of the national port system and the country’s largest city. It can be noted, however, that a symbiotic port-city relationship, in which the port exerted a structural role in the organisation of the city and its functions, has developed into a relationship where the city, the hub of a regional urban system and a main element within the peninsular and European urban network, has become autonomous and developed a generalised character, economically diverse and functionally complex. Despite this evolution, the port remains a nodal point in the integration of the city-region in global systems of physical and non-physical fluxes. As it becomes increasingly less integrated in the urban and functional structure of the city, the port continues to keep the pace of important changes and transformations In effect, in light of theoretical conceptualisation and systemisation and analyses of empirical evidence, the evolution of the relationship between the port and the city of Lisbon (focussing on functional, urban and economic dimensions) can be analysed and a plan outlined to determine an original model that identifies, explains and characterises the main phases of the relationship dynamic.

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