Yueyue Zhang

In the past decades, the redevelopment of the port-city interface has been a prominent topic (Hoyle, 2000) and continues to attract the attention of planners and academics (Hein, 2016; Van den Berghe & Daamen, 2020; Y. Zhang & Ache, 2021). Focusing on the integration development of the port and city, this project explores the evolution and changes of the port-city interface in two major port cities, Rotterdam and Shanghai. The port-city interface in this project is a space at the geographical frontier between port-owned land and urban zones and is an area in transition that is facing the coexistence of existing port activities and proposed urban uses. This research is dedicated to answering the main research question "How can the port and the city be reconnected based on innovative industrial developments at the port-city interface?".

This research question was investigated by looking into four specific evolutions in Rotterdam and Shanghai: (1) historical port city development; (2) the formation of the present port-city interface; (3) governance structure and process at the port-city interface; and (4) concrete innovative industrial developments at the port-city interface. The innovative industrial developments at the port-city interface include industrial dynamics planned at the port-city interface and innovation ecosystem orchestration at the port-city interface. These four evolutions were analysed based on data through three channels: a literature review on scientific articles and books, a review of port city planning documents and reports, and 34 semi-structured, in-depth interviews in Rotterdam and Shanghai. All data followed a qualitative data analysis approach and was processed through content analysis via ATLAS.ti 8. Through the analysis of the above four evolutions, the main research question has been answered. It is concluded that the port and the city can be reconnected in different ways based on port-city interface redevelopment. This conclusion is supported by one main finding that based on innovative industrial developments at the port-city interface, the port and the city in Rotterdam tend to be connected through a ‘port-city’ approach while they are connected through a ‘from the city to the port’ approach in Shanghai. This is because the two port cities have different innovative industrial development foci: Rotterdam focuses on port-city development while Shanghai focuses more on urban development. Moreover, it is found that different innovative industrial development foci are related to the governance structures and processes at the port-city interface.

In addition, compared to the previous interface (e.g. Hayuth, 1982; Hoyle, 1989), this project uncovers new spatial and functional characteristics of the present port-city interface in Rotterdam and Shanghai. Spatially, the present port-city interface is not formed close to the city centre but much farther away from it. Functionally, the port-city interface is not faced with the challenge of transforming old port areas into urban uses, but the challenge of the coexistence and co-development of port activities and urban businesses. Besides, this project confirms the finding from Wiegmans and Louw (2011) as another characteristic of the present port-city interface: the formation of the interface is facilitated by rapid city expansion toward the active port. Based on these three characteristics, this project concludes that current port-city development in Rotterdam and Shanghai has entered a new phase.

‘The port-city interface in the new phase’ can be defined as: a space at the geographical and functional frontier between the port and the city, which is located farther away from the city centre, is created by rapid city expansion towards the active port area due to urban development, and faces the coexistence of existing port activities and proposed urban uses. In order to illustrate this new phase and port-city interrelationships in current port-city interface development, this project adds a new round of port-city interface development to the popular and typical port-city interrelationship model of Hoyle (2000). This new round of port-city interface development discusses the driving forces of the formation, the redevelopment model and innovative port-city links in current port-city development.

Based on the aforementioned findings, this project advances the conceptual understanding of the present port-city interface in port cities, the port-city interface in the new phase, and the reconnection of the port and the city based on port-city interface redevelopment. Empirically, this project sheds light on how to redevelop the port-city interface to strengthen port-city connections. In terms of innovative industrial developments, this project specifically contributes to how to deal with limitations related to the basic governance structure and how to make governance settings in port cities more favourable to port-city innovative industrial developments, which are highly relevant for the port-city governors, planners, and decision-makers.