Model for the World: Examples of Port Cities
Influenced by Baltimore's Waterfront Renaissance
Sydney, Australia: the provincial government of New
South Wales developed Darling Harbour after the model of Baltimore's
Inner Harbor. The abandoned old port adjacent to the downtown business
district was replaced with a convention center, aquarium, science
museum, promenade and a festival marketplace named Darling Harbourside.
The result helped Sydney win the 2000 Olympic Games.
Rotterdam, the Netherlands: the city's Real Estate
and Planning Departments combined to extend the downtown across the
Maas River to the Kop van Zuid — a new office, residential, hotel
and leisure development built around the revitalized old cruise ship
terminal, with a festival marketplace in the converted Customs House.
Long Beach, California: in a shoreline mud flat between
downtown and the deep-sea harbor, the City developed a critical mass
of attractions called Queensway Bay, frankly patterned after Baltimore's
Inner Harbor and enhanced with a festival marketplace and the SS
Queen Mary converted into a permanently docked hotel.
Norfolk, Virginia: the downtown Renaissance was jump-started
by the Waterside — the festival marketplace developed by a partnership
between the city and James Rouse's Enterprise Development Company
and patterned after Harborplace in Baltimore; the city followed with
the development of a convention center, World Trade Center, Marriott
Hotel, a nautical science museum and a world-class cruise ship terminal.
Belfast, Northern Ireland: the Enterprise partnered
with two Irish developers to win the rights to the Laganside project,
connecting the center city with the Lagan River through the creation
of a municipal auditorium, a pedestrian promenade and with a Hilton
Hotel and the Irish headquarters of British Telecom.
Osaka, Japan; The Tempozan Marketplace was developed
by a consortium headed by the Osaka Port Authority, with Enterprise
providing Baltimore expertise as consulting developer; it includes
the Ring of Fire Aquarium designed by the Cambridge Seven architects
of Boston and a cruise ship terminal and a collection of other attractions.
Barcelona, Spain: Enterprise was retained by the national
port authority of Spain to prepare the Master Plan for the development
of Port Vell — the old port of Barcelona — and then partnered with
a Spanish developer to create Mare Magnum, the critical mass of attractions
that has been described as the most visited tourist attraction in
Barcelona.
Honolulu, Hawaii: the historic Aloha Tower and Honolulu
cruise ship terminal were redeveloped into a mixed-use project featuring
the Aloha Tower festival marketplace by Enterprise and a group of
Hawaiian and Japanese investors.
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