Written by expert architects and planners, this book explains the importance of and challenges inherent in transforming waterfronts into attractive community destinations.

In port cities around the world, waterfront development projects have been hailed both as spaces of promise and as crucial territorial wedges in twenty-first century competitive growth strategies. Frequently, these mega-projects have been intended to transform derelict docklands into communities of hope with sustainable urban economies—economies intended to both compete in and support globally-networked hierarchies of cities. This collection engages with major theoretical debates and empirical findings on the ways waterfronts transform and have been transformed in port-cities in North and South America, Europe, the Caribbean. It is organized around the themes of fixities (built environments, institutional and regulatory structures, and cultural practices) and flows (information, labor, capital, energy, and knowledge), which are key categories for understanding processes of change. By focusing on these fixities and flows, the contributors to this volume develop new insights for understanding both historical and current cases of change on urban waterfronts, those special areas of cities where land and water meet. As such, it will be a valuable resource for teaching faculty, students, and any audience interested in a broad scope of issues within the field of urban studies.

"Nearly all American cities are located on or near a body of water. In this extensive, one-of-a-kind design compendium, you'll get a full picture of the enormous opportunities and untapped potential of the urban waterfront - combined with world-class examples of brilliantly conceived and executed waterfront projects that have transformed previously neglected downtown areas in recent years." "The most in-depth portrait yet of this dynamic urban waterfront phenomenon, this book showcases 75 award-winning projects in vivid four-color and black-and-white photographs. Chosen for outstanding design, site usage, and community impact, each project is an outstanding example of the beauty and diversity of the modern urban waterfront, including Monterey Bay Aquarium (California); Harbour Town (Hilton Head, South Carolina); Horace Dodge Memorial Fountain (Detroit); Coastal Cement Corporation Terminal (Boston); Cincinnati Gateway Riverwalk; Roebling Bridge/Delaware Aqueduct (Pennsylvania and New York); and many more." "Armed with insights and information from the superb text, you'll appreciate the topnotch examples of waterfront parks, boathouses and marinas, housing developments, industrial and commercial mixed-use properties, artistic and cultural facilities, and historic preservation and adaptive reuse. Encompassing harbor front, shoreline, lakefront, and riverfront development, in cities of all sizes, the projects establish useful precedents and inspire creative ideas for those planning and designing new waterfront projects." "You'll also benefit from a unique historic review of the factors that created today's urban waterfront phenomenon, with an expert assessment of their social, cultural, technological, and economic impact on the reemerging American city." "The first truly comprehensive review of the dynamic urban waterfront...packed with case studies, maps, bibliographies, and magnificent illustrations...and addressing both design challenges and marketing potential...Waterfronts is an information-packed resource for all architects, citizen's groups, urban planners, developers, municipal leaders, students, and urban historians."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Examines the experiences of the port authorities of Tampa, San Francisco, San Diego, and Philadelphia and Camden, organizations that diversified beyond traditional maritime cargo operations into new lines of business related to waterfront development.

Most books on waterfronts deal with a relatively narrow collection of cities and projects; one might describe them as the 'top ten' list of waterfront revitalisation projects. For instance, Boston and Baltimore are now the stuff of waterfront redevelopment legend. Waterfronts in Post-Industrial Cities is a second generation waterfront publication which reflects on recent and contemporary developments. Amsterdam, Boston, Genoa, Sydney and Vancouver are successful examples of cities that faced considerable challenges in their revitalisation efforts. Bilbao, Havana, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Shanghai are contemporary examples that represent the emerging contexts for waterfront revitalisation today. Four themes form the basis of this book and provide a structure for considering particular aspects of waterfront redevelopment - connection to the waterfront, remaking the city image on the waterfront, port and city relations and the new waterfronts in historic cities. Broad issues that might be applicable to a variety of situations are dealt with alongside specific city case studies.

Making telling use of hundreds of photographs, Ann Breen and Dick Rigby analyze key waterfront developments from around the world in seven major themes: commercial (public enjoyment of the waterfront via cafes and restaurants, hotels, shopping and socializing); cultural and educational (in which museums and concert halls, ecological parks and modern aquariums are made attractive and accessible); historic (with a focus on the structures of past generations, modernized to take into account today's needs and tastes); recreational (parks and walkways, marinas and play areas); residential (urban projects rather than resorts); and working waterfronts (featuring today's continued industrial uses of center-city waterfronts, an often-forgotten aspect of the new waterfront). The authors also select some of the most dramatic waterfront makeovers for inclusion in a separate chapter on "Major Transformations". These include vast projects, but also smaller efforts with significant community impact. Dozens of schemes are discussed in detail, and nearly a hundred are put into context in the illustrated gazetteer at the end of the book, revealing waterfront regeneration as a truly universal phenomenon of our time. Authoritatively written, meticulously researched and spectacularly illustrated, The New Waterfront is an indispensable resource for architects, urban planners, developers, landscape designers and students - a book that will also have a much wider appeal for anyone lured by the attraction of the water's edge.