Senior Sequence

Global Port Cities and Networking from the 20th to the 21st Century

A Conference and Workshop on Global Port Cities and Networking from the 20th to the 21st Century

To be held Nov. Sun. 16th –Mon 17th 2008

Port Cities have a long history as places of economic exchange and as gateways for the transmission of people, goods, built and urban form. Since the mid 19th century, European expansion and globalization have further promoted them as major nodes in a worldwide capitalist economic network. Through the 20th and 21st centuries port cities have continued to be at the forefront for the creation of new cultural and social practices, multi-ethnic neighborhoods, imported building materials and technologies, design, and urban planning. Port cities have used waterfronts and their transformation as spaces to attract and promote urban and social transformation. The conference intends to bring together outside speakers and Bryn Mawr and Haverford faculty with interests in the topic of port cities and waterfronts taking an interdisciplinary and international approach. Existing literature on port cities mostly discusses them as a series of cities with ports without examining similarities or linkages. Similarly, research on waterfronts tends to put examples side by side rather than investigate whether global (capitalist economic) networks have led to particular interchange and interaction between these cities, transforming them into an identifiable group. The conference will thus ask questions such as: What are the common characteristics of port cities? Are there connections other than the existence of a port that allow us to consider port cities as different kinds of cities? Are there—and have there been over time—particular challenges facing these cities? How did maritime mobility, economic globalization, and migration manifest itself in waterfront cities? Does the networking between these cities influence their urban development, social composition, etc.? What are the connections between research on waterfront issues and questions of port cities? Is there a hierarchy between port cities?

Organized by Carola Hein, Jeff Cohen, Kalala Ngalamulume, Jim Wright, Peter Magee, Steve McGovern, Laurie Hart, Linda Gerstein from Bryn Mawr and Haverford Colleges.

Sponsored by the Center for Social Sciences, Center for Visual Culture, a Mellon Tri-Co See Grant.

Questions and information please contact:

Carola Hein, Growth and Structure of Cities Program
Bryn Mawr College
101 N. Merion
Bryn Mawr
PA 19010-2799
USA
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

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