Understanding the waterfront as a resource for health and wellbeing
If we consider the coastal front as a public space in the city, it must be accessible, inclusive and healthy. Therefore, its realisation must promote the reduction of health inequalities in its surroundings and ensure air quality, connection with the water and citizens’ ownership.
The identified environmental impacts also have a direct impact on the health and well-being of individuals and groups living in close proximity to port infrastructure. The process for assessment, transparency and reporting of emissions has improved in recent years, but it has also become apparent that pollution levels in port environments are unsustainable and in many cases exceed the requirements for maintaining healthy levels.
The environmental impacts in ports is definitely something that dockworkers are very concerned about. Because the people who are most affected by the contamination that's put out by idling ships or idling trucks are the workers of the port. […] The rates of asthma and the rates of various cancers [is higher], the lifespan or the projected lifespan is much lower for dockers in Europe.
Katy Fox-Hodess
Lecturer in Employment Relations and Research Development Director of the Centre for Decent Work at the University of Sheffield
There are some interesting examples of coalitions between unions and environmentalists. The main one I would point you to is in the Port of LA Long Beach, the Blue-green Coalition, which was between the unions for the Dockers and the truck drivers with environmentalists, and they got some new regulations put into place there.
Katy Fox-Hodess
Lecturer in Employment Relations and Research Development Director of the Centre for Decent Work at the University of Sheffield
Our health and well-being are also influenced by the spatial conditions in which we live every day. The proximity of accessible public spaces and the quality of the natural environment are directly related to improved health and perceptions of comfort and quality of life. Port infrastructures, when part of a coastal frontage, play a crucial role in creating a territorial network of continuous and uninterrupted health benefits. Linking port infrastructure with green and blue infrastructure strategies improves ecological connectivity and thus the health of our ecosystems and the people who inhabit them.
When we think of infrastructure, like gray infrastructure, it only has one purpose. So you think about a seawall, it can only block, or a concrete pipe can only move water. But if you have the green infrastructure solution, like a dune, it becomes much more than that. It becomes part of the landscape, it can become a public space that people can enjoy and walk through, it becomes an opportunity for ecosystems to thrive.
Stefan Al
Architect, urbanist and professor at Columbia University
The border between the ocean and land is extremely fertile for ecosystems. So, if you turn that into the gray border, they have no chance of surviving, but if you turn it into a green edge, there's lots of opportunity for different species to thrive.
Stefan Al
Architect, urbanist and professor at Columbia University
Promoting coastal ecosystem connectivity, together with the decarbonisation measures already proposed, offers a range of positive benefits and externalities to mitigate the impacts of ports on human health. Some of these are the quality of water and marine ecosystems, the conservation of biodiversity and, directly related to this, the improvement of the quality of life in the surrounding area.
[In] New York, instead of concrete pavers, there are custom-built or custom-cast stones that are designed in such a way that they can accommodate the oyster population. And oysters are wonderful for harbors because they clean the water. So they help purify the water and, at the same time, people in New York really love oysters to eat, so it stimulates the economy. And they use it as an educational tool. So school children, they go there and see how you know oysters are grown, and how they're how they're being harvested.
Stefan Al
Architect, urbanist and professor at Columbia University
The relationship between the city and the port as a permeable, accessible and public boundary is an important tool for promoting healthy habits such as physical activity, culture and social interaction in the city. Therefore, the need to create fair, safe and diverse spaces that do not promote inequalities between population groups and to accommodate traditionally vulnerable groups must be taken into account.
Key Actions
- Guarantee compliance with healthy emission levels and seek to reduce emissions until they disappear altogether.
- Complement and overlay port infrastructure with spaces that include vegetation and water cycle treatment.
- Assess existing health inequalities in cities, particularly in port areas, to take measures to reduce them in an equitable manner. For example, where there is a shortage of jobs in a particular sector of the population, create employment mechanisms under decent conditions for that sector; provide facilities and places where there is a shortage of healthy recreational spaces; etc.
- Create a network of public spaces that allow access and use in healthy ways – sports, play, cultural activities, and meetings. Keep these spaces in good condition, safe and accessible.
Experts
Katy Fox-Hodess
Lecturer in Employment Relations and Research Development Director of the Centre for Decent Work at the University of Sheffield
Stefan Al
Architect, urbanist and professor at Columbia University