Since the 1980s, seaport cities have been characterized by the spatiotemporal concurrence of highly modern terminals away from the city and derelict and/or sub-optimally used inner city harbours and waterfront sites. The post-Fordist city disintegrated into a polycentric fragmented structure with aggravated social confl icts between older residential areas of dockers and requirements for modern expensive waterfront condominiums. The cranes of the shipbuilders’ yards, which used to be a characteristic feature of the city silhouette and a symbol for dynamic port economies, have been dismantled, the land left derelict and contaminated. The formerly close functional and spatial relationship of port and city was relaxed from the end of the 1960s onwards and off ered opportunities for transformations. In this article different approaches for redevelopment und revitalization are discussed.

The subject discussed in this paper is the evolution of the ideas of organic development in urban planning, focused on the waterfront areas. The paper also aims to analyze and interpret current trends in urban water waterfront planning, which are infl uenced by the contemporary ideas related to environmental issues, landscape planning, new technologies in the fi eld of building design and civil- and hydroengineering or application of the renewable energy sources.

The main purpose of this article is to present facts related to the history of Port Praski located on the right bank of the Vistula river in Warsaw, which is currently being built. The subject of the consideration is the area and development of the former Port Praski, which project and the fi rst works began after the First World War. It’s spatial and functional connections with the downtown area and surroundings are also key issue. The article presents plans, concepts, projects and investments, furthermore theirs level of implementation. Signifi cant eff ort was made to answer the research questions concerning social expectations regarding the function and the direction of Port Praski development. In the final part of the article was made a comparison of existing revitalization works in Port Praski with HafenCity – the district of Hamburg, where the revitalization project has been already implemented for 20 years. However, comparative analysis revealed several signifi cant differences, allowed to conclude that Polish model of revitalization is only a partially identical with the approach applied in Western Europe.

As a result of changes taking place in urban water front structures and updating views on the design and functioning of public space that took place in the post-industrial era, maritime yacht ports began to appear in the most attractive regions of coastal cities. Their center-forming potential is more and more often noticed and used in the processes of transformation of waterfront areas in port cities, in order to revive water fronts and also as a tool for creating a new identity of revitalized places and interesting urban spaces.

Waterfront regeneration of port districts emerge as a tool for prestigious development of cities in urban re-imaging and growth. Creation of prestigious housing in these areas are part of a broader strategy of mixed-use and property-led development, but in absence of a holistic approach in planning and design, the urban landscapes may be developed merely on basis of the real estate frameworks. This article looks at how development trends of port cities can take an unintended stance in property-led regeneration of port districts, creating gated communities and failing to succeed in achieving the pre-determined objectives in urban planning. The discussion, which will address to issues of place-making, commodification of public space and planning policies, will take the port city of Izmir as the case. It is suggested that the adoption of a holistic approach to urban planning should guide the regeneration processes and design should take place-making into consideration.

Within this article a large scope of issues associated with development conditions and specifics of shaping the new image of Gdańsk waterfront was presented. The special attention was paid to its part situated within its central zone, located within the city centre. This area was playing a key role in development of the city, as within its boundaries many activities associated with shipbuilding and port industry were located. One has to mention that the Granary Island – a place located in the heart of the waterfront area – was an area of special interest for the port and shipbuilding activities, which relates also to the embankments of both Old and New Motława rivers. But the technological changes in the maritime transportation as well as wart-time destruction of the city decided about the major changes in structure of this area and shifting the port and shipbuilding operations to other sites located to the north from the city centre. Therefore, starting from the year 1945, one could observe the on-going discussion regarding the future of this area, although only in 1990-ties it was possible to actually start implementation of these ideas. At the same time – along with appearance of the demand for the types of apartments, offi ce and commercial spaces that are located on the waterfront – the urban space of Gdańsk waterfront has become interesting for both municipal authorities and developers. In result, a large amount of projects have already been implemented or planned, which contributes towards creation of the new, waterfront urban district of Gdańsk. Within its structure one can distinguish a number of particular sites, including ones still awaiting for their development chances. In the text of this article there were presented the most important parts of these plans, as well as future development directions of urban waterfront structures.

The water’s edge is the most iconic and identifiable image related to the city of Durban and in seeking an ‘authenticity’ that typifies the built fabric of the city, the image that this place creates is arguably the answer. Since its formal establishment as a settlement in 1824, this edge has been a primary element in the urban fabric. Development of the space has been fairly incremental over the last two centuries, starting with colonial infl uenced built interventions, but much of what is there currently stems from the 1930’s onwards, leading to a Modernist and later Contemporary sense of place that is moderated by regionalist infl uences, lending itself to creating a somewhat contextually relevant image. This ‘international yet local’ sense of place is however under threat from the increasingly prominent ‘global’ image of a-contextual glass high-rise towers placed along a non-descript public realm typical of global capital interests that is a hallmark of the turnkey project trends by developers from the East currently sweeping the African continent.

Blue infrastructure is not only an element related to rainwater retention in a city but also a factor shaping urban space. As a result of the impact of blue infrastructure on form, function and character of urban space, a unique space is created – an urban blue space. The subject of the article is associated with the blue infrastructure on shape and character of urban spaces, as well as water-land spatial relations within urban blue space. Author of the article analised spatial relations occurring in port cities between aquatic and terrestrial space from perspective of the land, but also water, which is an equally important part of city’s area. As a result models of two-dimensional water-land relations have been recognised and described.

This paper examines the conservation master plan prepared for in Beyoglu, Istanbul’s Galata Persembe Bazaar waterfront and its Genoese and Ottoman port heritage. This paper initially contains an analytical perspective. This perspective informs the analyses of the evolution of planning process on the conservation of the port heritage. The results of relations between port heritage and conservation planning works have come up for discussion. Spatial interventions on the Persembe Bazaar waterfront began in the 1980s by removing industrial and commercial buildings in the area. These interventions, made in the framework of wiping away the Halic (Golden Horn) waterfront created pressure for urban regeneration in areas with historical and cultural heritage assets like Persembe Bazaar. Major projects such as Galataport and Halicport on the waterfronts of the Halic and the Bosphorus have increased this pressure. Huge functional transformations on the waterfront are desired along with the Persembe Bazaar Conservation Master Plan, which conforms neither to the content nor the context of general conservation principles or Turkey’s conservation legislation. Its content includes no interventions compatible with the theme of “living in harbour cities” and should thus be criticized. The conservation of the tangible and intangible heritage of historical port features, the preservation and development of the service sector and trade in the area requires adopting a holistic understanding of conservation and taking historical features into account. Such an important port heritage site should not be seen as having only touristic functions. It should emphasize more local features for their daily use of local residents and businesses.

This article examines the ontological and spatial character of the waterfront and its influence on perception and design, with particular focus on the process of reproduction of space (Lefebvre) through the generation of mental maps. The convergence of land and water holds in itself an inherent tension between the accessible and the unattainable: the unconscious can be projected on the unknowable underwater space; the unseen domain beyond the horizon can hold a promise of a better world. Another polarity is that of the familiar and the unknown/exotic, off ering a new perspective, a reevaluation of the familiar through the process of ‘ostranenie’ (Shklovsky),’verfremdung’ (Brecht) or ‘estrangement’. The impact of these polarities reaches beyond the spectacle of urban life, the cinematic experience or the theatrum mundi: it enables the reevaluation of the preconceptions of beauty and utility, as exemplifi ed by Futurist Manifesto (Marinetti). These polarities manifest themselves in the hierarchy and dynamics of a waterfront community: physical impermanence of water dwellings foregrounds the contingent nature of human relationships. The waterfront community inhabits superimposed yet separate networks of land and water. First, mental maps have to be generated for each of these separately, then they have to be reconciled in a coherent whole in a separate process. That mapping of the separate networks necessitates a physical transition, a spatial translation that also has linguistic consequences: a different semantic field is assigned to the vocabulary of the everyday, for the significance of the basic terms like ‘home’ or ‘street’ need a modifi ed definition. All the aforementioned processes and phenomena infl uence the ability to perceive, design and reproduce waterfront areas of cities.

Since the beginning of the 21st century floating buildings have been growing in popularity in Poland. According to market research and quantitative studies, the majority of operative Polish floating buildings serve for commercial purposes, such as short-term rentals, vacation houses and floating marinas. Simultaneously, despite the increasing demand, the development of floating buildings in Poland is limited by the inconsistent legislation, government policy and, most importantly, natural conditions of Polish inland waters. The most attractive sites for floating architecture are the semi-natural lakeshores and riverbanks. At the same time, low water levels and poor maintenance of many Polish basins require special architectural and engineering solutions. The article presents our experience with meeting the market’s demand for small cost-effective floating commercial buildings despite the local shortcomings of inland waters on the example of the floating apartment built in 2019 on the Roś Lake in Pisz, Poland. The presented building was intended as a water-based extension of the existing hotel on land. It was designed as a “modern barn” with all-glazed gable wall allowing for a spectacular view to the lake. With a 50 sqm footprint, the one-story house with a mezzanine has a small draft of 33 cm and meets the stability criteria defined for inland waters. The presented case study shows that integrating the naval architecture theory, Building Information Modeling simulation along with cutting-edge construction techniques such as Scottsdale Construction System (SCS) and polyurethane spray insulation, can bring significant progress into the development of the floating buildings market in Poland.

The article deals with the process of restoring life into the Elblag’s waterfront – located in the heart of the city, which is the Old Town with still forgotten Granary Island, both damaged by the second world war. The conclusions are inspired by publications about Elblag deriving from various periods, as well by international or students’ workshops. The author describes various considerations how to bring Granary Island into cultivation simultaneously with rebuilding Elblag’s Old Town, that derive from the conservation concept based on a new method named retroversion, how to create new panorama of the waterfront and what is the best way to integrate it with The Old Town, using Elblag River.