Annabelle Duval
TU Delft
We invite professionals - architects, urban planners, municipal officials, port managers, policymakers, and cultural practitioners - to engage with real-world examples and work on their own case studies at this 3-day workshop, featuring trips to Rotterdam and Scheveningen. Through this, we will explore how to activate heritage as a tool for sustainable urban development, rethink water infrastructure for multifunctional use, and design urban spaces that remain relevant for future generations.
Running from May 27 - 29
Early December 2025, professionals and academics gathered in Rabat for Creating a Vision for Port Cities – Morocco Edition, a professional education workshop organised by the PortCityFutures research centre. The five-day programme combined lectures with field visits to Salé, Casablanca, Tangier, and Tangier Med, using Moroccan port cities as a shared reference for discussion and on-site learning.
Day 1 – Exploring Port City Territories
Day one opened with introductions, participant backgrounds, case study presentations, and lectures on value-based, socio-cultural approaches to port city development.
A guided walking tour of Salé, led by a local archaeologist, provided firsthand insights into the long-term interplay between water, urban form, and port activities. The visit was complemented by an insta-walk led by Maurice Jansen, which encouraged participants to document and discuss these spatial and cultural layers through visual storytelling. Snapshots from both activities are available on the Instagram account Rabat.refractions, a project by Dominik Straub and Leander Baumann (HafenCity Universität Hamburg).
Participant reflections – Day 1
« The instawalk through Rabat and Salé was particularly revealing, greatly enriched by our tour guide’s deep knowledge of the city’s layered histories and everyday life. Walking along the Bouregreg river made visible how differently the territory is experienced by institutional actors and by those who rely on it daily. This insight strongly connected with the mapping and persona exercises, which helped me understand how port-city frictions emerge when certain values and voices become central while others remain peripheral. »
(Amin Baida, Architecture Bachelor student at INAU. Case study: Bouregreg valley, Morocco)
Day 2 – Multi-Scalar Stakeholders and Collaboration
Day two focused on stakeholder networks and governance dynamics in port city territories. The discussions were complemented with an afternoon field trip to Casablanca that enabled an in-depth analysis of the city–port interface. Visits to historical urban areas and contemporary waterfronts prompted discussions on the layering of urban development, infrastructure, and socio-economic activities, and on tensions between economic objectives and social and ecological values.
Participant reflections – Day 2
« Working with our own cases—representing very different national, geographical, and functional contexts—worked really well in combination with field trips and lectures, to open discussions on the more concrete applications of theories and methods presented during the programme. »
(Ida Sofie Gøtzsche Lange, Associate Professor at Aalborg University. Case study: Thisted, Denmark)
« Exploring Casablanca allowed me to understand the differences and tensions between the old city, which relates to the port, and the newer city surrounding it. While the old city's architectural language, scale, atmosphere, and daily activities suit the authentic Moroccan identity and were deeply connected to the port, the newer city, developed later by different regimes, carries various international influences—mainly European. This is manifested in large-scale urban structures and a different architectural language promoting activities and encounters typical of European cities. Thus, the city manifests an internationality significant to port cities and brings forth important dilemmas related to the nature of authenticity in port cities, the scope of their internationality, and the manners in which these two characteristics could be merged—both in urban and architectural arrangements and in their social and economic fabrics. »
(Dana Margalith, Professor of Architecture at Haifa University. Case study: Haifa, Israel)
Day 3 – Temporal Thinking and Visioning
Day three focused on temporality in port city development. Lectures addressed historical trajectories, path dependencies, and moments of transformation, helping participants contextualise current conflicts and opportunities within longer-term dynamics.
The Port Constructor serious game, facilitated by Maurice Jansen, asked participants to simulate port development decisions involving multiple stakeholders, thereby confronting trade-offs between economic growth, environmental protection, and social integration.
Participant reflections – Day 3
« Building a timeline was the most illuminating part of my case study on Klang, Malaysia. Tracing its history helped me “zoom out” and understand the bigger picture in envisioning Klang, the port city. On top of this, it connected the dots between the evolution of stakeholders and values through history. Having this “macro” view of the port city really laid out clear areas of commonality and friction. Moreover, it provided a clear basis when thinking about Klang’s aspirations. »
(Huda Mahmoud, PhD candidate at Cambridge University. Case study: Klang, Malaysia)
« Halfway through our workshop in Morocco, we moved beyond theory and into the driver’s seat of port development. Through the “Serious Game on Port Construction,” our group simulated the evolution of an imaginary port, divided into three key stakeholders: Port Authorities, Residents, and the Economy. It wasn't just a game of strategy; it was a lesson in accountability. Every choice we made—balancing economic growth with environmental protection and local integration—triggered immediate consequences, forcing us to face the social and ecological reality we had just created. [...] Ultimately, a port is more than just infrastructure; it is a collision of scales. It is a local provider of jobs and a global node of invisible trade networks. As a construct almost as old as civilization itself, the port acts as a mirror of our species. It is a snapshot of our current societal values, tensions, and our collective ability to navigate a changing world. »
(Dominik Straub, student at HafenCity Universität Hamburg. Case study: Colombo, Sri Lanka)
Day 4 – Tangier: Historic and Mega-Port Landscapes
Day four examined Tangier across scales, from the historic port to the industrial complex of Tangier Med. Discussions focused on how spatial and cultural interventions can strengthen urban identity while maintaining active port functions. The afternoon visit to Tangier Med provided a contrast, showcasing large-scale infrastructure, industrial operations, and global logistics flows.
Participant reflections – Day 4
« The visit to Tanger Med port was personally the highlight of the workshop. Guided by a port official, we gained a behind-the-scenes understanding of how the port functions, including the free market zone. The visit gave me a better understanding of how rapidly the port has grown in recent years and how it is used as a strategic tool within a broader vision.
For me, this visit was especially meaningful since I travel through Tanger Med every summer. Seeing it from the inside was a unique experience, and it changed how I perceive this port beyond just a place of transit. »
(Ridaa Belboukhaddaoui, student at TU Delft. Case study: Rabat, Morocco)
Day 5 – From Vision to Action
The final day synthesised insights from previous sessions through strategic visioning exercises.
The workshop concluded with presentations and peer feedback, fostering reflection on how historical, ecological, social, and economic dimensions can be integrated in port city planning.
Participant reflections – Day 5
« The workshop underlined the importance of continuous efforts to make long-term strategic, visionary planning across port and city areas, focusing on the connections between human practices, cultural heritage and spatial conditions. We witnessed how the relocation of activities, like fishing ports and the placement of shopping malls on port areas, hindered fishermen and tourists from accessing the medinas of the cities. »
(Jacob Bjerre Mikkelsen, Assistant Professor at Aalborg University. Case study: Thisted, Denmark)
Acknowledgments
This blog post has been written in the context of discussions in the LDE PortCityFutures research community. It reflects the evolving thoughts of the authors and expresses the discussions between researchers on the socio-economic, spatial and cultural questions surrounding port city relationships. This blog was edited by the PortCityFutures editorial team: Nathan Döding and Yi Kwan Chan.
