Port, city, territory: economic development and urban quality in the case study of Salerno

Abstract

Cities are the collective expression of a society and in seaside cities this phenomenon acquires peculiar values, since maritime communities share a unitary identity in the remarkable link with maritime essence, ships and navigation. Maritime urban landscape may be really perceived only from the sea and during navigation, through a dynamic perception able to give its complexity back. Architecture in seaside cities is rooted in the sea itself, which shapes the urban landscape, fosters the cultural evolution, affects social dynamics and makes economy be on the move. The ever rising sea trades, brought about markets’ globalization, fostered port’s development, which, if well run, is still today able to provide new opportunities for sea towns. The approach to an urban planning focused on a “from the sea” perspective suggests to deal with both the port and urban dimensions. Through this kind of approach, the Port may acquire a new leading role in the renewal of urban coastal areas, becoming, thus, the driving force of its (self)development and, at the same time, of the local urban sustainable development. Rather than being univocal, the relationship between city and port constitutes a quite complex continuous process, which calls for physical and cultural changes, often difficult to deal with and fulfill; a process in which different subjects and resources, often at odds, are involved. In this study approach we will focus on Salerno, where, through the cultural continuity of maritime tradition, the rise of port activities has been matched with an urban vision designed to reshape the urban waterfront (Fig.1).

 Salerno has identified policies and methods designed to undertake a renewal — along with Administration, Port Authority and Private Citizens — by sharing actions and projects to make waterfront more suitable and “tantalizing”, to improve the quality of urban life and, simultaneously, to take advantage of the potential of these precious areas, guaranteeing a strategic perspective in which local peculiarities and historical memory are highlighted.