Urban Transformation: Heritage, Urbanity, Infrastructure and Resilience of a Post-Port City

Kapitel i bok, 2018

Recognizing a dynamic nature of living cities and their constant transformation, there is a need to understand the underlying structure of the built landscape, the social, cultural and natural values as well as have the knowledge about changing the form of cities. The conceptual actions shaping the character of urban transformation of post-port areas are often associated with many overlapping strategies to re-develop new urban centers. Hamburg HafenCity, like many urban post-industrial areas in the world, is going through radical transformation of the former port areas and extensive expansion of the inner city. The mixture of old and new with a high variety of uses aims at developing new urban qualities as well as a new waterfront. There are four important actions to be taken into account when transforming post-port areas: 1) assessing values of cultural heritage in the process of building a new identity; 2) planning for urbanity: integration of urban life, diversity of city functions, social cohesion; 3) re-development of infrastructure; 4) strengthening urban resilience and complex interactions among natural, cultural and social aspects.   A careful transformation process needs to balance monetary gains with social and ecological ones. Urban resilience is becoming a decisive factor for a new identity, urbanity and infrastructure redevelopment, inseparable from integrated “socio-ecological” perspectives.