Home » Creating a Vision for Port Cities: Workshop and Fieldtrips l Morocco Edition
Creating a Vision for Port Cities: Workshop and Fieldtrips l Morocco Edition
From 1 to 5 December 2025, the international workshop “Creating a Vision for Port Cities: Morocco Edition” will take place in Rabat, Morocco, organized by TU Delft in collaboration with local and international partners, including universities, research institutes, and port authorities.
Building on the successful pilot held in The Hague (September 2025), the event will bring together professionals, researchers, and policymakers to explore strategies for sustainable port–city development, territorial resilience, and long-term planning.
Port city territories represent unique intersections of urban life, communities, and waterfront environments, where water, heritage, infrastructure, and port activities are deeply intertwined. Yet, their distinctive qualities are often overlooked, leading to development that neglects heritage, weakens identity, and limits opportunities for communities, businesses, and the environment.
The five-day program, based on a value-based and design-oriented approach, invites participants to rethink how port cities can harness their heritage and local assets to build resilient, inclusive, and adaptive urban spaces while maintaining vital port functions. Activities include hands-on sessions, collaborative exercises, and field visits to Rabat–Salé, Casablanca, Tangier City, and Tangier Med, offering participants a first-hand understanding of port–city dynamics and their socio-ecological contexts.
By the end of the workshop, participants will have the opportunity to identify local and global challenges of planning for port city territories; explore shared goals and values; apply analytical and design tools for future-proof strategies; communicate insights to diverse stakeholders; and co-develop actionable visions for sustainable port cities.
Speakers will include Carola Hein (Full professor and chair, History of Architecture and Urban Planning at Delft University of Technology Chair holder UNESCO Chair Water, Ports and Historic Cities) as lead instructor; Léon Buskens (Leiden University; Director of NIMAR); John Hanna (Lecturer and Researcher, TU DelftHistory of Architecture and Urban Planning / TU Delft Everyday Infrastructures / LDE PortCityFutures); Ouafa Messous (Guest Accredited Professor, Architect – Urban Planner, National School of Architecture); Maurice Jansen (Senior Researcher, Erasmus Centre Urban, Port and Transport Economics); Matteo D’Agostino (Researcher, TU Delft; Faculty Architecture and the Built Environment); Lea Kayrouz (PhD Candidate, TU Delft); Annabelle Duval (Professional Workshop Coordinator, TU Delft; Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment).
The Cnr Iriss supports this initiative as part of its commitment to advancing international cooperation, applied research, and capacity-building on port–city relations, territorial regeneration, and sustainable maritime development. Through its collaboration within the network of RETE – International Association for Collaboration between Ports and Cities, the Institute contributes to promoting an integrated and multidisciplinary understanding of port territories as key spaces for innovation, environmental transition, and social inclusion.
Organizzato da:
PortCityFutures – TU Delft
Referente organizzativo:
Paolo Landri
CNR – Istituto di Ricerca su Innovazione e Servizi per lo Sviluppo paolo.landri@cnr.it
Modalità di accesso: registrazione / accredito
Registration and fee payment
