Spatial Planning, Tourism and Regeneration in Historic Port Cities

Abstract

Many historic port cities have in recent decades experienced redevelopment for new “post-industrial” uses, often related to tourism. Such uses may offer the potential for creating more sustainable and liveable cities, for instance by means of greater mixing of uses, and re-use of vacant or under-used land. Equally, however, they may lead to problems such as erosion of heritage, and loss of amenity through congestion and pollution. Such issues are crucial to the future of many Mediterranean port cities, since increasing pressures for tourism-based uses in the region are exacerbating conflicts between economic development and heritage preservation in many cities. The case of Valletta's cruise passenger terminal illustrates such tensions and pressures, and suggests implications of relevance to historic port cities in other contexts.