Coastal Cities of the Mediterranean: Port Governance Strategies and Interaction with Cities

This collaboration engaged with questions emerging across Mediterranean port cities, focusing on how port infrastructures shape urban life, mobility, heritage, and everyday environments. Developed for a meeting in Tangier (October 2023), the project brought together municipal representatives, port authorities, and researchers working across coastal contexts including Dubrovnik, Izmir, Misrata, Saïda, Tangier, Tetouan, and Tripoli.

Organised by MedCities and supported by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), with contributions from LDE PortCityFutures and GIZ, the work centred on structuring a series of conversations around shared concerns across port environments. The programme developed thematic questions, session titles, and discussion formats addressing governance, environmental pressures, spatial transformation, and relations between port territories and urban communities.

Through moderated sessions and collective reflection, the meeting contributed to the formation of an ongoing working group connecting cities, research initiatives, and institutional actors engaged with Mediterranean port contexts. The process concluded with a written report tracing recurring themes, points of tension, and possibilities for continued exchange between port cities.