Understanding and Redefining Small Ports in the Port-City Interface

This project explores what defines a small port and its position within the global port network, as well as examine the port-city interface. We aim to gather narratives from key actors and stakeholders to assess current trends and future scenarios. The project will culminate in a conference that brings together experts to share insights and discuss the future of small ports.

Objectives and steps

This project will follow a five-stepped approach, covering a one-year period.

• Definition and Positioning – Define what constitutes a small port from both the perspectives of key actors and broader societal understanding. Examine the role of small ports in the larger port network and their contribution to regional development.

Task: Investigate how small ports are perceived by various actors, including port authorities, policymakers, business owners, local communities, and urban planners.

• Narratives – Explore the port-city interface by gathering narratives that reflect the interaction between port development and urbanization through workshops and roundtable discussions with port operators, urban planners, and local citizens via case studies of small port cities to map out key factors influencing the port-city interface.

Task: Collect narratives that explain how ports and cities interact, focusing on economic, social, and environmental impacts.

• Scenarios – Develop future scenarios for small ports based on the gathered data, narrative, and evolving trends in maritime and urban development.

Task: Explore possible futures for small ports by considering factors such as climate change, trends and patterns, collaborations.

Activities:

• Use scenario-planning techniques to develop several future outlooks.
• Engage stakeholders in brainstorming sessions and panel discussion on potential future developments.

• Compilation – Create a catalogue to capture all the stakeholder communication, narratives, key findings, and insights developed during the project to guide future research and policy.

Tasks: Collect notes, presentations, and data from workshops, interviews, and stakeholder meetings.

Deliverable: A comprehensive project catalogue containing definitions, narratives, scenarios, and recommendations, demonstrating the interaction between small ports and their cities.

• Final conference – To present findings and discuss the role of small ports in the future of maritime culture and port-cities.

Task: Organize a conference to discuss the role of small ports in the future of maritime trade culture urbanisation, and sustainability, with speakers from academia, industry, and government.

Present the project findings and facilitate panel discussions on the next steps for small port research and development.

As part of the Small Ports project, Deltametropool will take on key roles in coordination, strategic planning, and the development of project outputs.

Deltametropool will be actively involved in coordination and strategic discussions. This means participating in regular meetings with project stakeholders to ensure smooth progress, contributing to the overarching strategy, and aligning project goals with long-term regional planning initiatives.

Deltametropool will also be responsible for the compilation of the project catalogue. This task involves collecting, organizing, and synthesizing all project data, narratives, and key findings into a comprehensive catalogue. The catalogue will serve as a central document that captures the communication, insights, and outcomes generated throughout the project, ensuring the information is accessible and useful for future research and next steps.

Finally, Deltametropool will work closely with the project team and the student assistant to guide both the future scenarios and catalogue development processes. This involves overseeing the scenario-planning methodology and ensuring that the catalogue content accurately reflects the project’s objectives and findings.