Waterfronts between Sicily and Malta: an integrated and creative planning approach

In current global crisis, with the world’s GDPs dropping, the strong flows of financial, social and relational capitals that powered urban regeneration over the last fifteen years are no longer available to be tapped in an indiscriminate manner. Revitalising waterfront is no longer easy opportunity for long-term investments or for using the financial capital gains of hedge funds or sovereign funds, but a more creative port city has to provide precious opportunities for real development that is able to produce effects in both the domain of quality of public spaces and that of economic development. In this scenario acts an international cooperation project between Italy and Malta about waterfront development, promoted by the University of Palermo and the University of Malta as scientific responsibility, and by the Municipality of Palermo, and the Provinces of Palermo and Trapani as institutional actors. The project aims to explore the field of “waterfront” in a different sense from the simple concept of urban or peri-urban coastal areas.