The transformation of port cities, most obviously, appears as a series of material manifestations of local dynamics. Large container terminals are erected, and new waterfront regeneration projects are launched to replace derelict warehouses and docks. However, these striking transformations of the urban fabric are also physical manifestations of social processes and local imprints of trans-local flows and networks. Port city transformations, then, appear as socio-material processes that take place at the intersection of global and local forces.
The workshop brings together leading international scholars and practitioners from a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds. The workshop in particular seeks to explore the benefits and limitations of research strategies that venture beyond the established analytical distinctions between the material and the socio-economic fabric of cities, and beyond the tired dualisms of local dynamics and global flows.
Organized by: Gernot Grabher, Dirk Schubert, Joachim Thiel (HCU) | Carola Hein (Bryn Mawr)
