Chapter 0.3 – Seaports: Social and Environmental Value

Authors: Dr. Theo Notteboom, Dr. Athanasios Pallis and Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue

Seaports often suffer from a negative public image, mainly due to their environmental impacts and the disconnection between cities and their activities.

1. The Public Image of Ports

The general public often considers port areas desolate, dangerous, dirty, and unattractive, characterized by buildings with low aesthetics and large machinery emitting noise and air pollutants. People might feel disconnected from ports, particularly in those areas where the port has moved away from the city. In short, ports cannot take broad public support for granted. This aspect of port competitiveness will undoubtedly become more important in the future as resources such as land are becoming increasingly scarce and broader social and environmental functions are challenging the economic function of seaports.

Nowadays, port managers and government bodies are trying to ensure that new port developments are socially broadly based. Conflicts of interest among different stakeholders may overshadow the community of interests. Major socio-economic confrontations related to port development and operations can occur when community groups perceive a clear imbalance between the benefits and costs for the local community of having larger ports. Public support for ports becomes particularly bleak when a large part of the population is unaware of how the port is organized and operated and to what extent the port contributes to the local economy. The concerns solely focus on potential negative effects for the local community, such as road congestion, intrusions on the landscape, noise and air pollution, and the use of scarce land. The potential erosion of public support for seaports is a real concern to port managers.

Next to pure economic effects, ports increasingly need to be guided by social and environmental considerations. Public policymakers and port managing bodies are challenged to design effective port-related policies in the fields of urban planning and expansion, safety, security, and sustainability. The economic value of a port now tends to be taken as given by some stakeholders, so the argument concentrates on environmental issues and social issues.

Ports must demonstrate a high level of environmental value to ensure community support. However, environmental aspects also play an increasing role in attracting trading partners and potential investors. A port with a strong environmental record and high community support is likely to be favored. From an environmental perspective, port planning and management should ensure sustainable development. The environmental sustainability of port projects and activities has become as important as economic and financial viability.

Measuring the social value of ports is an extremely difficult exercise. Many ports directly support a wide variety of community events and projects through sponsorship in an effort to attract community support. However, it is the indirect social contributions that most benefit local communities. For example, ports might invest in training and education programs. Such forms of social commitment are an important part of the success of ports, linking commercial responsibility to social acceptability and accountability.

Ports are challenged to improve their public image, which can be done by combining several approaches:

  • External communications policies and public events and festivities in and around port areas – such as Port Days.
  • Convince the general public of the importance of ports by presenting figures on employment effects and added value.
  • Adopt a green port management strategy that focuses on mitigating externalities such as energy consumption, the emissions of pollutants, and waste disposal.
  • Stakeholder relations management, such as the development of good relations with all parties concerned, particularly with respect to port expansion plans or redevelopment/regeneration plans focusing on older port areas (i.e. waterfront redevelopment).

Reinforcing the public image of ports is also a matter of attracting a new generation to work in the port. Ports have to offer attractive careers by offering good working conditions and the potential for career advancement, as well as by stimulating a sense of pride about the port.

2. The Port-City Interface

The port-city interface is a core theme in discussing the public image of ports and the balance between economic, social, and environmental aspects. Ports and cities worldwide have developed extensive initiatives to (re)establish mutual links. The redevelopment of older abandoned port areas, also called waterfront redevelopment, is one of the focus areas.

A waterfront redevelopment program that respects the maritime heritage of the port and re-establishes the link between the city and the port can revive the public acceptance of ports. It can also bring new jobs to derelict port areas. In many ports, public and private investments have been channeled to revitalize older port areas encompassing housing, hotels, maritime heritage projects, sports, recreation, tourism, and local commerce. Residential, recreational, commercial, retail, service, and tourist facilities are mixed to create multifunctional areas with a broad range of employment opportunities.

At first glance, redeveloped docklands worldwide look very much the same. However, the objectives, approach, and focus of waterfront projects can differ considerably. For example, in the pioneering London Docklands scheme, the focus was on providing office accommodation. In Barcelona (Spain), the waterfront conversion project contributed to an unprecedented investment, tourism, employment, and population boom with a clear emphasis on creating leisure and shopping facilities and rearranging traffic flows. Similar redevelopment initiatives have been taken in other port cities as well, turning port areas into very attractive places for living, working, and recreation.

Many waterfront projects bring in a clear cultural component through museums (e.g. the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, ‘Museum aan de Stroom’ in Antwerp), opera houses, and concert halls (e.g. Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg), and conference centers (e.g. Dalian International Conference Center in Dalian, China). The establishment of port museums often enhances the link with the maritime heritage. The new urban waterfront also provides many service jobs linked to bars, restaurants, convenience stores, and the usual range of services expected by the new waterfront residents. Hotels have become a prominent feature of urban waterfronts all over the world. These hotels are usually accompanied by a cluster of restaurants that look out over the water and often specialize in seafood. Increased visitor expenditure through multipliers can create new investment and employment opportunities. Waterfronts are also recreation areas with facilities for yachting harbors and marinas, watersport areas, and theme parks. Many ports provide jobs for people working in marinas, sailing schools, yacht and boat repair and maintenance yards, and similar waterfront operations.

A number of ports have become turntables in the cruise industry, with most cruise terminals located close to the city center. Cruise vessels near the city generally reinforce the maritime link between cities and ports and are visible signs of the city’s attractiveness to tourists. Expenditure by passengers from visiting cruise ships may significantly impact the regional economy. This is most likely to occur where the port has relatively frequent visits by cruise ships, or the region is small. Cruise passengers may also spend time in the metropolitan area before or after their voyages, generating additional economic impacts through visitor expenditures. Cruise vessels calling at a port also generate jobs at the level of pilotage, tugs, provisions, fuel, crew shore leave, passenger services, inspections, immigration, hotels, restaurants, local attractions, and other visitor activities in the port area. Further employment is provided by inland transportation involving cruise passengers, including air, private car, bus, transit, and taxi. Some ports (e.g. Rotterdam, Amsterdam, and Antwerp in Europe, or Chongqing, Yichang and Shanghai in China) are regular ports of call for river cruises on major rivers (respectively the Rhine and Yangtze).

Examples of Waterfront Redevelopment Projects in Europe
Examples of Waterfront Redevelopment Projects in Europe

3. The Greening of Ports

Ports, as nodes in extensive global transport networks, and intersections of supply chains covering a multitude of commodities and cargo types, create environmental impacts through their various functions. Historically, ports have been associated with industrial activities having notable environmental impacts, making them prone to regulations. From an environmental perspective, port planning and management increasingly align with sustainable development initiatives. The environmental sustainability of port infrastructure projects and operations has become a factor that contends with economic and financial viability. As clusters of economic actors and activities, ports have adopted an environmental role and function, thus contributing to the greening of supply chains.

Terminal activities are one source of the environmental impact of seaports which can be summarized in several categories, namely:

  • Pollution related to port construction and maintenance.
  • Air emissions related to ship operations and terminal handling equipment (such as cranes and yard equipment).
  • Noise associated with cargo handling operations.
  • The environmental effects and potential congestion associated with landside operations of barges, rail, and trucks.

Environmental impacts occur at all terminal life cycle stages, such as planning, terminal construction, terminal operation, terminal expansion, or terminal closure and repurposing. Regarding landside operations connecting inland transport, environmental impacts caused by intermodal connections and congestion lead to adverse environmental effects. These effects vary depending on modal composition and shippers’ associated cost and transit time requirements. Other port functions generate environmental impacts, such as industrial and manufacturing activities, as well as warehousing and distribution activities.

Port-related externalities impacted marine ecosystems and the urban environment. The development of a low-carbon economy is considered to be a strategy to mitigate environmental issues.

Examples of windfarms and gas terninals in ports
Examples of windfarms and gas terminals in ports

The greening of ports is attracting growing attention. In business practice, it is reflected in the many green initiatives of individual ports and the coordinated actions of the wider port community. The green port (or low-carbon port) concept was proposed at the United Nations Climate Change conference in 2009. From a combination of port development strategies, better utilization of resources, and environmental protection, the green port concept refers to a better protection and promotion of the marine ecological environment, low energy consumption, and low pollution. In a broader sense, the green port concept or sustainable and climate-friendly development of the port’s infrastructure entails responsible behavior of all stakeholders involved in port management and operations.

Related Topics

References

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