Port Cities, Peoples and Cultures: Waterfront Regeneration and "Glocal" Identity

Among the many issues that concern the regeneration and shape of public spaces within the waterfront areas, the way in which these spaces respond to the multifaceted influences resulting from globalization, multiculturalism as well as maritime traditions has been chosen for this study. The key issue is the material and immaterial way port cities traditionally combines influences from elsewhere with local identity, in order to define urban design tools oriented to deal with the social and cultural fractures of contemporary urban areas. The main purpose of this research is to develop a methodological approach that targets enhancement of multiple roles of waterfronts in order to favour social inclusion and cultural interactions. The interpretation of multifaceted social needs is aimed at defining strategies in order to improve processes for producing inclusive public spaces. To explore this scenario, case studies have been focused on waterfront regeneration projects in Belfast, Marseille and New York, in order to develop applications for other multicultural heritage. These case studies have been oriented at identifying the characters of those public places that lie on the borderline between land and water, peoples and cultures, port and city. These contexts have been chosen in order to address policies of waterfront regeneration consistent with the role of public spaces in interpreting the intensity of cultural diversity in terms of integrations and interactions.