Society

Port City regions consist of a global foreland and a deep hinterland. The collective governance of this extensive landscape, the logistics of the multiple flows and the multi-layered use of space of these regions is challenging for all stakeholders involved. Potential conflicts and tensions resulting from power structures, policy-making capacities, or environmental impact require careful analysis. Critical shines a light on tensions and prepare investigation for interventions and, potentially, the development of better strategies and policies inclusive strategies and sustainable policies. Port cities, where institutions, spaces and practices are intertwined, face collective challenges that require particular economic and social resilience, to respond (pro-)actively to changes and disasters. Who specifically benefits remains to be further explored. We argue that the concept of cross-sector social partnerships for inclusive port-city development requires more profound understanding, especially on the causal mechanisms that are at play in partnerships, acting on the port-city interface, taking into account diverse global contexts. New insights on the implications of the regional dimension of port city futures will be discussed in the forthcoming special issue of PortusPlus.