waterfronts transformation: urban form as a standard product

Abstract

Countless cities throughout the world have renewed their old port areas turning them into new waterfronts. Starting from four selected cases (Baltimore, Sidney, Barcelona and Buenos Aires), this article underlines the fact that many of the new waterfronts have been renewed with standardized forms and programs. There is an analogy between Starbucks coffeshops, McDonalds fastfood restaurants and Disney theme parks. In different scales the last three cases have the common characteristic of building a new experience, places unlinked to their physical environment. The majority of the chosen study cases are new waterfronts that appear to be strangers to their surroundings. These new places appear to have more in common with a shopping mall than with a public space by the waters edge. However, as time has gone by, these locations have founded a new category of public spaces, they answer to the demand of citizens for new recreational venues and meeting spots and have become landmarks in their cities.