Cruise Traffic & Urban Regeneration of Port Cities : the City of Matosinhos in the Spotlight!

The whole nature of maritime transport has changed dramatically during recent decades and this could not fail to impact on port cities. Delocalisation of port activity to deep water, greenfield sites outside the city or simple decline in traffic left many coastal towns facing huge areas of derelict land, abandoned buildings and infrastructure at the former heart of the city. Functional relationships and transport networks lost significance, port-city animation ceased to exist. Furthermore changes in status of port authorities have often fundamentally altered management systems traditionally dealing with the city-port interface, necessitating development of, or benefiting from, new partnership structures. Today these modifications and handicaps are becoming more and more regarded as opportunities exemplified by cities seeking to diversify central port activities, to actively plan for delocalisation, to exploit land availability to develop new and attractive waterfront and to reuse port heritage and infrastructure in innovative ways.

CTUR is an URBACT project made up of 10 European cities looking for joint, effective and sustainable solutions in the field of cruise traffic and urban regeneration. Indeed, CTUR project led by the City of Naples deals with the effects of cruise traffic on integrated and sustainable port city development.

This issue of the CTUR CityNews is dedicated to Matosinhos partner. Find out more on this Portuguese port city "exemplary young, vigorous and lively, where the tourist can experience a variety of cultural and leisure". Discover Matosinhos' new cruise terminal project and read the interesting interviews of Mr. Nuno Oliviera , deputy mayor of Matosinhos as well as of Mr. João Matos Fernandes, President of APDL - Port Authority of Douro and Leixões and member of the CTUR Local Support Group in Matosinhos. Don't miss CTUR Lead Expert Vittorio Torbianelli's article on the "Exemplary links between urban regeneration and cruise activities in Matosinhos".


Read more:

• CTUR - URBACT website
• Download Ctur_citynews_n2_Matosinhos.pdf (3.56 MB)  - URBACT website
• Download CTUR citynews N.1/2010 Varna (1.46 MB)  - URBACT website