PCF Talk #67 – Agenda Monthly Meeting – Hybrid
This is a hybrid event, please join in person, or via the zoom link below!
Landscapes of the Cluster: Small Ports Outlooks
14:00 - 14:10
This event explores the pivotal role of small and regional ports within larger ecosystems—river networks, territorial port clusters, and delta landscapes—highlighting how they mediate between local contexts and global flows. Anchored in the theme Small Ports, Big Challenges, the program brings together case studies and forward-looking perspectives that position small ports as adaptive, strategic actors within evolving port geographies, in dialogue with insights from the book Landscapes of the Cluster. A Spatial Approach to Ports (jovis, 2025).
Setting the Stage: Port Spatialities and Other Logistical Weirdness. A Research and a Book
14:10 - 14:40
The book Landscapes of the Cluster: A Spatial Approach to Ports, published by Jovis in 2025, proposes a spatial and territorial reading of contemporary ports and port clusters through a multiscalar lens. As a result of the EU-funded research project “PULSE – The Port-clUster LandScapE: Developing a Spatial and Design Approach to Port Clusters” (UniGe, DAD, 2022-2024), the book proposes the notion of the cluster as an interpretative tool to discuss the transformation of port landscapes and their role within processes of urbanization, infrastructure development, and global exchange. Drawing on international scientific research, Landscapes of the Cluster brings together studies from various European contexts that explore port spatiality through architectural and urban lenses, engaging with questions of land use, rising sea levels, and transformations in port governance.
Beatrice Moretti is an Architect, PhD, Researcher, and Lecturer in architectural and urban design, Department of Architecture and Design, University of Genoa, Italy. Moretti holds the Seal of Excellence Certificate for the proposal submitted under the H.E. Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions 2021. From 2022 to 2024, she has been PI for the research "PULSE - The Port-clUster LandScapE: Developing a Spatial and Design Approach to Port Clusters", HI UniGe-DAD, NextGenerationEU. At UniGe, she teaches architectural design and theory with a focus on ports, territories, and spatial infrastructures. In 2025, she was an Adjunct Professor at the Arab American University – AAUP, Ramallah (PS). Moretti has lectured at TU Delft, New York Tech, Temple University, Yeditepe University (Istanbul), ETH Zürich, and Chung-Ang University (Seoul). She is the author of the books “Beyond the Port City. The Condition of Portuality and the Threshold Concept” (JOVIS, 2020), “A Landscape Infrastructure Research. Roma Tuscolana Pilot Project” (ListLab, 2022, with G. Tucci), "Patrimonio di confine. Metabolismi della linea di costa. Indagini, sperimentazioni e visioni fra città e porto" (Sagep, 2024, with C. Andriani and D. Servente).
14:40 - 15:00
Break
Outlooks on Port Clusters
15:00 - 15:30
Tuning Small Port Systems and Coastal Urban Contexts. An Adriatic translation
Ports, regardless of size and location, play a crucial role in regional economic development, as gateways that enable access to essential resources and provide goods and people transportation services. However, unlike clusterisation dynamics of large ports, little attention has been given to Small and Medium-Sized Ports (SMSPs). Besides the lack of a unified definition, there are both research and empirical gaps regarding how small ports shape the local economy and contribute to the potential of the port ecosystem. Furthermore, to gain a more comprehensive understanding of small and medium port cities, it is necessary to examine the role of recreational and tourist ports and marinas in relation to cluster dynamics, which have been neglected in comparison with commercial and industrial ports. By acknowledging ports as ecosystems and social constructs, shaped by long-term institutional relations and influenced by local cultures, it is possible to evaluate how multi-actor perspectives are set to be deployed in the implementation of port-city coexistence within broader port system strategies. Two case studies in Puglia (southern Italy) concerning the ports of the Port System Authority and marinas are examined in relation to socio-spatial challenges, shaped by institutional patterns of interaction and the local translation of port spatiality – both physical and administrative – into the urban context.
Presenter: Silvia Sivo
Silvia Sivo is a PhD Candidate in Urban and Regional Planning and Policies at Università Iuav di Venezia, and a guest researcher at Leiden University, Department of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology. Her doctoral research investigates socio-spatial interactions from the perspective of adaptive governance in port cities, focusing on how institutions and actors engage in arenas involving common-pool resources, through case studies of Venice, Amsterdam, and Antwerp. Trained as an engineer and architect, her background bridges international scientific activities and consulting experience with Italian public and port authorities, while her research approach is informed by urban activism.
Big Ports, Small Places
For ecological and socio-economic reasons, there is an urgent need to renew the traditional economic structure of port cluster landscapes. However, the vast scale of big, modern port areas – like Maasvlakte 2 – is not equipped to facilitate and foster the human interaction that is needed for innovation and economic renewal. Therefore, it is necessary that architects, planners, and scholars change their perspective on the spatial port-city interface, as waterfront areas have the potential to create small, human places where interaction and innovation can thrive. In Rotterdam, the Municipality and the Port Authority are already experimenting with creating a port-city innovation district in the Merwe-Vierhavens (M4H) area – part of the Rotterdam Makers District. The experimental approach in M4H can provide insight into how such mixed-use port-city environments take shape and are realized only through collaboration between port and city actors.
Presenter: Kees Stam
Kees Stam is a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment at Delft University of Technology. His doctoral research explores the collaboration and learning between the City of Rotterdam and the Port of Rotterdam Authority. In addition to his PhD, Stam works as a researcher and lecturer at Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences. He holds a bachelor’s degree in spatial planning from Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences and a master’s degree in economic geography from Utrecht University.
Fluid Clusters: accelerating landscapes of co-existence
How can the port-city territory be reimagined so that infrastructure and ecology function as symbiotic agents? Building on the trans-scalar and multifunctional plea of Landscapes of the Cluster, this lecture argues for a systemic paradigm: the evolution toward Fluid Clusters. These are self-organizing, amphibious thresholds of coexistence-landscapes where urban, maritime, and multi-species interests converge. Acting as catalysts for the transition from the Anthropocene to the Eco-cene, we reflect on multi-level resilience lessons from transcontinental climate hotspots: Brazil, China, and the Dutch Delta. It shifts toward a transformative adaptation in which long-term goals are aligned with short-term actions. In this framework, infrastructure and ecology become symbiotic agents in a shared metabolism.
Presenter: Mila Avellar Montezuma
Mila Avellar Montezuma is an Urbanist and Landscape Designer with an MSc Water Science and Engineering, specialized in Sustainable Urban Water Management and Climate-Resilient Cities from UNESCO-IHE, TU Delft, and IHS Erasmus, and a postgraduate in Urban Heritage Strategies for Water Challenges (IHS, TU/Delft, RCE). As a practitioner and researcher, Mila is deeply committed to accelerating climate adaptation through a research-by-design approach, with a focus on nature-driven technological solutions, for instance, as an expert on the EU-China RESUREXION on Multilevel Resilience development for Urban areas and River basins to extreme weather conditions in Europe and China. She has developed water-adaptive projects in Brazil, China, Bangladesh, and the Netherlands.
Shared Q&A and Interactive Session
15:30 - 16:15
Moderated by Romeo Haitsma
Conclusions: Whither Port Geography?
16:15 - 16:30
The academic object of "the port" and the academic field of "port geography” examining this object are relatively new, and emerged during the era of (hyper)globalisation. At least implicitly, both the port and the academic field of port geography ontologically took context as a given, and looked for answers to what the port ’should be’, both in serving (e.g., supply chain management) as mitigating/obstructing (e.g., advocacy planning) globalisation. The central point of the reasoning is that this ’taken for granted’ context is changing, and in this context, the academic object “the port” likewise. This raises a valid question about the relevance of the academic field of port geography, ontologically, epistemologically, and eventually methodologically. Building on critical realism, one advocates for a "normative turn" in port geography. Rather than answering (endless) questions of what a port could or should be - that in many cases misses the connection with private and public policy making (cf. we talk ‘about’ the port, but not ‘with’ the port), the field must navigate the reciprocal relationship between the two to actively shape future societal and industrial transitions.
Presenter: Karel Van de Berghe
Karel Van den Berghe is a professor in spatial planning and urban development management at Delft University of Technology. Holding master’s degrees in geography and spatial planning, he is pursuing a PhD that explores the relational port-city interface. His current research focuses on the role of space in the circular economy, the impact of re-/de-globalisation on spatial planning, and the integration of industrial functions near urban knowledge hubs. He advises various governments, port authorities, and the European Commission and is a Regional Studies Association Fellow. Van den Berghe also serves on the steering committee of the TU Delft Circular Built Environment Hub.
PCF lighthouse projects and new opportunities
16:30 - 16:45
Book Details
Landscapes of the Cluster. A Spatial Approach to Ports (jovis, 2025)
jovis.de/en/book/9783986121808
As ports expand to meet global demands for sustainability and energy transition, European states are reshaping their maritime landscapes through port clusters—new organizational structures that transform both administration and governance. This book critically examines how port clusterization is redefining the relationship between cities and their ports, challenging conventional urban and architectural research on port-city conditions. It explores the spatial impacts and physical footprints of this transformation across the cluster's landscapes and introduces design tools to help port city institutions navigate pressing challenges. From coastal land consumption to sustainable infrastructures and the shifting perception of ports within cities, Landscapes of the Cluster provides fresh insights into the future of port-city dynamics.
- Examines the emerging phenomenon of port clusterization from a spatial perspective
- In-depth research on Italian port clusters, complemented by international guest essays
- Establishes a cooperative dialogue between academia and port institutions
Acknowledgments
The book, presented as a scientific monograph, collects the results of the research project of excellence “PULSE – The Port-clUster LandScapE: Developing a Spatial and Design Approach to Port Clusters.”
(pulse.unige.it). Winner of the “Young Researchers” Call 2022, PULSE has received funding from the European Commission through the Italian Ministry of University and Research – MUR, as part of the implementation
of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) – Mission 4 “Education and Research” – Component 2 “From Research to Business” – Investment 1.2 “Funding projects presented by young researchers”. Framed within the NextGenerationEU Recovery Package, the “Young Researchers” Call 2022 addressed to individuals holding a “Seal of Excellence” following participation in Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowships within the framework programmes Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe.
PULSE Host Institution (HI): University of Genoa (IT), Department of Architecture and Design – DAD
PULSE Principal Investigator (PI): PhD Arch. RtdA Beatrice Moretti
CUP (Codice Unico Progetto): D33C2200165000
PROJECT CODE: 100027-2022-BM-PNRR-YR_SOE_0000001