University of Amsterdam – GSSS, Graduate School of Social Sciences
MSc Urban & Regional Planning (2017–2018)
URP Master Thesis 2018 (736410200W.AJ)
Planning, Innovation and Transformation: Questioning the Actual Meaning of 'Change'
What Comes First Conditions What Comes Later?
Path Dependence and Urban Waterfront Developments
in Rotterdam and Hamburg.
15 August 2018
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Pieter Tordoir
Submitting student: Andreas Künzi (11430001)
Word count: 19,161
Table of Content
xi. Figures, Images and Tables
i
xii. Abbreviations
ii
xiii. Acknowledgement
iii
1. Introduction
1
2. Theoretical Framework
4
2.1 Historical Institutionalism
4
2.2 Path Analysis
5
3. Research and Analytical Methods
11
3.1 Comparative Historical Research
11
3.2 Case Studies
13
3.3 Analysis
16
4. Urban Port Development in Rotterdam and Hamburg
17
4.1 A Close Relationship – Port and City in Rotterdam
17
4.2 Displacement and Exceptionalism – Port and City in Hamburg
24
4.3 Similarities, Disparities and Patterns I
26
5. Politics, Culture and Planning
28
5.1 Rotterdam, The Netherlands
28
5.2 Hamburg, Germany
32
5.3 Similarities, Disparities and Patterns II
33
6. Urban Waterfront Developments in Rotterdam and Hamburg
35
6.1 Kop van Zuid
35
6.2 HafenCity
41
6.3 Similarities, Disparities, Patterns III
42
7. Path Analysis – History and Waterfront Developments
43
7.1 Rotterdam: Historical Pathway of Urban Port Development
43
7.2 Rotterdam: Historical Pathway of Politics and Planning
45
7.3 Kop van Zuid and Path Dependence
46
7.4 Historical Path Dependence?
47
8. Conclusion and Further Research
49
9. References
52
xi. Figures, Images and Tables
Figure 1:
Constitution of an organizational path
6
Figure 2:
Formation of a path-dependent trajectory
7
Figure 3:
Long-term path establishment and on short-term disruptions
9
Image 1:
Kop van Zuid
15
Image 2:
Expansion Plan 1884
18
Image 3:
Waterstad and Urban Facade
19
Image 4:
Window to the River
24
Table 1:
Path shaping and disrupting events in urban port development
44
Table 2:
Conditioning Moment: Political and public opposition
46
Table 3:
Conditioning Moment: New development paradigm
46
xii. Abbreviations
CBD
Central Business District
CHR
Comparative Historical Research
HC
HafenCity
HI
Historical Institutionalism
HH
Expert Interviewees Hamburg
HHLA
Hamburg Port and Logistics AG
KvZ
Kop van Zuid
PDT
Path Dependence Theory
PPP
Public-Private Partnerships
RTM
Expert Interviewees Rotterdam
xiii. Acknowledgement
I would like to thank Prof. Dr. Pieter Tordoir for his valuable knowledge, critical capacities,
creative inputs and overall patience in supervising my thesis.
I thank my family, my father Klaus, my mother Regina and my brother Manuel for their general
support of my idea of going back to studying in my late thirties.
I thank Werner Tosoni, my boss over the last years, whose willingness and patience to let me
work mobile for his civil engineering company in Sissach, Switzerland allowed me to be securely
employed and simultaneously follow my studies.
Further thanks go to Prof. Dr. Siegfried Weichlein and Prof. Juri Auderset from the University of
Fribourg, whose vigour and dedication for the study of history lead me to recognise the
discipline’s significance not only for a better understanding of the past but also for a critical and
constructive outlook on the present.
I am furthermore thankful for my interviewee's willingness to give me their valuable time and
expertise.
My thanks also go to Matthias, to my fellow students James, Kaspar and Miriam for their
inspiration, to Joel and Britta Bisang whom embraced me shortly after my arrival in Amsterdam
and made my stay in the city a social pleasure.
And last but not least, thank you, Eefje, for your loving strength, loyalty, patience and
understanding.
1. Introduction
“What comes first conditions what comes later” (Putnam, 1994: 8). Albeit not explicitly, Robert
Putnam’s statement in his work Making Democracy Work. Civic Traditions in Modern Italy on the
performance of institutions suggests that our world is not only shaped but also constricted by
its historical past. This is a daring assumption. And one that can perhaps best be tested by
linking the critical examination of historical sequences to current circumstances.
The investigation of historical pathways illustrates how and under what conditions particular
pathways have evolved. The assembly of these pathways with contemporary settings explains
to what extent they mould or even confine the present. Ideally, any such approach succeeds in
an improved comprehension of today’s societies and, to that effect, of the barriers that tend to
occur when attempting to change or overcome them.
The idea that historically developed pathways restrict options in the present complements
with the concept of path dependence theory. According to the theory, history not only remains
apparent but moreover is cumulative. Choices made at an earlier stage are significant in the
sense that they limit later options and thereby shape the direction actors, businesses or
institutions may take (Pierson, 2004). Consequently, path dependence theory can serve as an
instrument to illustrate how historical pathways have emerged and, by extension, to what extent
these pathways affect practices today. With this in mind, the study attempts to unveil historical
trajectories in planning in an effort to link them to current urban developments.
The methodical examination of the emergence of historical trajectories potentially allows for
a better understanding why planning presumably manoeuvres on a specific path. By putting
some emphasis on overarching political-cultural settings as well as on relevant prevailing
planning theories, the research takes a macro-historical look at the evolution and establishment
of planning trajectories. The thesis thereby appoints historical developments in relation to
planning, highlighting a particular pathway. This pathway, in turn, eventually builds the
foundation for its association with topical case studies.
At length, the thesis revolves around the principal hypothesis that although urban
development is affected by spatial and institutional path dependence, metropolitan governance
and urban planning are evidently capable of breaking-away from given constraints under specific
circumstances. In order to test this hypothesis, the study looks at a city experiencing a moment
of shock. The focus thereby lays on the city's reaction to said shock and whether it marks a
continuation or break with a specific pathway in planning. By aligning the inquiry of recent
planning practices with historical findings under the umbrella of path analysis, the thesis
ultimately aims to comprehend if and to what extent urban planning is path dependent.
In light of the above stated hypothesis the study approaches the two following main research
questions:
1) To what extent can the historical inquiry of a specific urban space unveil spatial and/or
institutional path dependence in planning?
2) To what extent can events in the further development of said space be determined that
enabled a deviation from spatial and/or institutional path dependence?
In order to answer these questions, the thesis examines the waterfront developments of the
Kop van Zuid and the HafenCity in Rotterdam and Hamburg, respectively. The examination of
each city’s institutional planning history takes a historical-comparative approach. Some
emphasis is thereby being laid on the consideration of the different political settings of the cities
and, by extension, how they relate to planning; a municipality in a unitary governmental system
in Rotterdam (Gemeente Rotterdam, n.d.) as opposed to a city state embedded in federalism in
Hamburg (Stadtportal hamburg.de, n.d.).
The cities of Rotterdam and Hamburg were selected on the basis of these varying
local-political structures and history, on the one hand. On the other, and most importantly, both cities,
to a large extent, revolve around the political, economic, cultural and social importance of their
ports. Moreover, the harbour areas in both cities were affected by the process of containerisation
and the consequent partial retreat of the ports from their urban environments. The withdrawal of
the ports from the city centres and the ensuing abandonment of sites formerly used for
operational harbour activities due to containerisation thus serves as the aforementioned moment
of shock.
Accordingly, the study links the waterfront developments of Rotterdam and Hamburg to the
respective historical spatial and institutional development of the port areas. The case studies of
the Kop van Zuid and the HafenCity thereby allow the comparison of waterfront developments
in two cities across two slightly contrasting political, but reasonably similar economic and
cultural contexts. By analysing historical and recent similarities, disparities and patterns of two
comparable cases that share a common focus, i.e. the development of their waterfronts, the
research ultimately attempts to prove that the developments deviate from historically established
spatial and institutional planning pathways.
By focussing on the Kop van Zuid and the HafenCity the study generally hypothesises, that
both waterfront developments account for a spatial and institutional break-away from each city’s
historical planning pathway. Naturally, the given time scope and extent of this thesis does not
allow an in-depth, meticulous study of such a complex and wide-ranging assumption. At length,
the research therefore attempts to create a basis for a more comprehensive investigation of
recent and current planning systems and the consequent strategies in urban developments
against the backdrop of historical research. The research thereby builds on existing frameworks
of path dependence theory and modifies them for the purpose of this thesis. Ultimately, the study
means to contribute to the general discourse on path dependence in planning by combining and
building up on existing frameworks and research methods.
2. Theoretical Framework
History is often said to be the result of long-term developments (Braudel, 1977; Brenner, 2001;
Mahoney, 2004). This raises the question of how and to what extent historically established paths
affect or even constrain the present. Consequently, when approaching such a question in urban
planning, the focus lays on the historical emergence of specific planning pathways, on the one
hand. On the other, when attempting to relate historical findings to the present, the connection
of these pathways to recent and current planning practices is self-evident.
For the purpose of this thesis, the historiographical query revolves around the method of
historical institutionalism. The employment of the method thereby aims at a broad
macro-historical observation of the emergence of planning pathways and their underlying spatial and
institutional settings. In an effort to link the historical outlook to the present, the thesis engages
in a more up-close, in-depth and detailed examination of planning trajectories by the means of
two contemporary case studies. For both approaches, the macro-historical outlook and the
'zoom-in' on the case studies, path dependence theory functions as the central theoretical
framework. Accordingly, the method of historical institutionalism becomes an integral part of the
theoretical framework.
2.1 Historical Institutionalism
As a method historical institutionalism (HI) aims at a comprehensive understanding of the
emergence of institutional structures. HI thereby is not limited to the examination of formal
institutions. Rather it attempts to include sociocultural settings outside governmental bodies and
their influence of formal institutions. Formal and informal institutions affect a wide range of issues
directly or indirectly related to planning. As structures or mechanisms of social and political order,
formal institutions set-up systems and govern strategies of decision making. As mechanisms of
social interaction, informal institutions manifest in unwritten rules, norms and traditions of social
order and behaviour (North, 1990: 6).
Consequently, HI examines institutions in order to find sequences of cultural, social, economic
and political behaviour and change across time. The embracement of numerous aspects of
human institutions and organisations thereby focusses on “big structures, large processes, [and]
huge comparisons” (Tilly, 1984). Under HI the concept of institutions is thus not limited to formal
public organisations. By incorporating behavioural aspects that root in factors such as ideology
or informal customs, HI claims to give agency to a broad scope of social dynamics, groups and
behaviours.
The idea that social configurations and state authorities interact and influence each other is
thus a central mean in the method of HI. By emphasising the political and social participation of
elites and the state as well as groups outside of it, the method offers explanations beyond distinct
historical events (Tilly, 1984). Consequently, HI attempts to cohesively focus on the conditions
under which a particular trajectory was followed and not others. Specifying why particular paths
were not taken is therefore as important as specifying why certain paths indeed were taken
(Martin, 2012).
In light of the given extent of the thesis, however, a meticulous scrutinization of both formal
and informal institutional settings is not possible. Neither is it conceivable to give detailed attention
to why and under what circumstances specific pathways were not taken. The study thus
approaches a broad macro-historical outlook to examine the history of a) urban port development
in Rotterdam and Hamburg and b) of planning systems and strategies and how they relate to their
overarching political-cultural settings. The research thereby attempts to highlight particular
development paths in search of regularities and patterns. At length, this approach results in the
production of a wide-ranging historical overview without claims of empirical validation, which are
necessarily restricted under the method
(Galtung & Inayatullah, 1997: 1-10).
2.2 Path Analysis
As an analytical concept, path dependence theory (PDT) illustrates how practices tend to become
established through temporal processes. At its core the theory states that actors, businesses and
institutions are significantly influenced by decisions that date back to earlier stages in history. PDT
states that following a certain path will constitute a specific trajectory to the effect that any attempt
to change path becomes more difficult over time. Consequently, institutions, in particular, tend to
continually follow a given direction, regardless of the fact that other options might offer better
alternatives (Pierson, 2004: 17-18). This dynamic is enforced by the idea that converting to a new
system would exceed the immediate gains of continuing to operate on the existing one (Veenstra,
2015). PDT thus goes beyond the mere notion that history matters and remains apparent. Rather
than just pointing out historical legacies, the concept attempts to unveil a kind of a deterministic
chain, which, at its core, states that steps in a particular direction, taken at an earlier stage, prompt
further steps into the same direction (252).
The alleged tenaciousness of this fundamental chain anchors in the notion of positive
feedback. The internal logic of positive feedback can be captured via a simple mathematical
model: Imagine an opaque container with two balls in it, one black, one red. One ball is removed
randomly, say a black one, and then returned to the container accompanied by an additional ball
of the same colour. With the repeating of this process chances steadily increase that a black ball
will be drawn, while the chances for change, i.e. the drawing of a red ball, more and more diminish.
Ultimately, this process supposedly leads to a lock-in on the established path that gradually but
persistently weakens the ability to change (Pierson, 2004: 253).
According to models of PDT, the establishment of a particular path has a tendency to ultimately
result in a rigid position, a so-called lock-in. Sydow et al. (2009) provide a theoretical framework
that explains how organisations tend to become path dependent (see Figure 1). The framework
divides processes that lead to path dependence into three distinct phases. Phase I (the
preformation phase) illustrates the intersection where one path from a myriad of options is chosen.
In phase II (the formation phase) decisions made in the former phase being to establish, leading
to the formation of a new regime. Finally, phase III (the lock-in phase) fixes the decisions made
in phase I and established in phase II. They are now “locked-in”, impeding the ability to react
and/or adapt to changing circumstances.
Following this framework, outcomes at a critical juncture trigger feedback mechanism that
reinforce the recurrence of a particular pattern in the future. Each step taken thereby limits future
options. At first glance, this seems to result in the assertion that organisational pathways are
necessarily determined by previous causes, whereby a 'narrowing' path into one particular
direction gradually establishes. Furthermore, and more crucially, it seems to suggest that
particular conditions will be locked-in indefinitely. Sydow et al. (2009) emphasise, however, that
“[p]ath dissolution may occur through unforeseen exogenous forces, such as shocks,
catastrophes, or crises; these are likely to shake the system, thereby causing the organization to
break away from the path” (701).
Consequently, pathways can develop in more than one particular direction. When affected by
disruptions, options at critical junctures may actually enable deviation from a path and overcome
assumed lock-ins (Peck et al., 2009; Tasan-Kok, 2015). Although not explicitly, Tasan-Kok's
framework of PDT (2015) translates what Sydow et al. call options into creative (positive) and
destructive (negative) events. The framework thereby attempts to “explain differences in urban
transformation in terms of planning and territorial governance” by assigning “exogeneous and
contingent events” (2184-2185), the corresponding to the exogenous forces mentioned by Sydow
et al. Path analysis with the employment of Tasan-Kok's framework ultimately unveils changes in
trajectory from a given path through a particular contingent event. Moreover, the framework
specifically assigns moments that lead to these contingent events.
Figure 2: Formation of a path-dependent trajectory (Source: Tasan-Kok, 2015)
The framework by Tasan-Kok enables a more detailed explanation of events that disrupt and
thereby potentially change the direction of a path. Pathways are thus seen to be the result of
contingent events prompted by numerous creative (positive) and destructive (negative)
moments, which, in turn, are affected by institutional and organisational processes. The terms
“positive” and “negative” thereby do not refer to an assessment or judgement of the events, their
“character”, but to their concrete and visible implications for planning.
Tasan-Kok links her framework to the prominence of neoliberalism in planning over the last
decades. Accordingly, an example for a destructive (negative) moment would be the “destruction”
of established institutional settings by neoliberal politics, whereas a creative (positive) moment
would be the consequent “creation” of new institutional formations under the influence of
neoliberalism (2187). Hence the framework allows to point out particular moments and how they
affect or even lead to subsequent path shaping events.
The study at hand takes a two-tiered methodological research approach. A macro-historical
outlook for the examination of historical planning trajectories and a more detailed advancement
for the case studies (see chapter 3). Consequently, the two above illustrated frameworks by
Sydow et al. (2009) and Tasan-Kok (2015) are being combined and altered. The macro-historical
research of planning pathways employs an adapted version of the fundamental PDT framework
by Sydow et al. The examination of planning trajectories in respect to the waterfront developments
of the Kop van Zuid and the HafenCity, in turn, uses a modified version of the more detailed
framework by Tasan-Kok.
The altered PDT framework of Sydow et al. is put against the backdrop of a historical timeline.
This allows for the temporal allocation of moments that conceivably shaped planning trajectories
and consequently established a specific pathway. 'Options' are thereby divided into two
categories: 'events in history' and 'path shaping events in history'. This should demonstrate an
event's effect on shaping a historical pathway (or its lack of it, respectively). The concept of
increasingly limited options and the consequent supposed lock-in is illustrated by a narrowing
scope of influence that historical moments are able take on an ever-establishing pathway. Based
on the macro-historical outlook, the allocation of these events in the respective formation phases,
as proposed by Sydow et al., does not seem reasonable and is thus omitted.
The employment of the framework by Tasan-Kok results in a zoom-in on the implicit lock-in
phase. The structure thereby serves as an inspiration to create a framework of PDT that fits the
purpose of this thesis. Following the outline, the study looks at two distinct contingent events,
namely the shock of ports withdrawing from the city centre and the subsequent waterfront
developments. In accordance with the macro-historical framework they are furthermore termed
'conditioned path shaping events'.
Conditioned paths shaping events are triggered by one or more moments, meaning they
depend on external factors and conditions. Tasan-Kok for her framework calls these 'creative' and
'destructive moments', respectively. The Schumpeterian notion of the “creative destruction”
1of
cities under capitalism (2187) is renounced for the purpose of this thesis. They are instead termed
'conditional moments', thereby underlining their role in conditioning path shaping events.
Conditioning moments are influenced and affected by numerous indicators, each driven by
distinct motions. In consistency with the overarching aim of the thesis, the exposing of spatial
1In his 1942 work Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy Schumpeter argues that “[a] process of industrial mutation that incessantly revolutionizes the economic structure from within, [is] incessantly destroying the old one, incessantly creating a new one” (82-83).
and/or institutional pathways, as well as with the term used by Tasan-Kok for her framework
(institutional and organizational processes) these indicators are termed 'spatial/institutional
processes' (Figure 3).
Figure 3: Long-term path establishment (macro-historical) and on short-term disruptions (zoom-in) (Source: Author, 2018)
The zoom-in on the macro-historical outlook comes with two overlapping benefits. Firstly, the
zoom enables to better understand conditioning moments, i.e. conditions that eventually set-up
path shaping events. Provided that there is a fitting overarching frame, conditioning moments can
furthermore be positioned and explained within their circumstantial and temporal contexts.
Shaping and establishment of a path (macro-historical)
(Preformation Phase) (Formation Phase) (Lock-in Phase)
Zoom-in
Zoom-in (break-away/new path)
✱Event in history
Path shaping event in history
Scope of influence Emerging path ✱ ✱ ✱ ✱ ✱ ✱ ✱ ✱ New Path Established Path
✱
✱✴
Spatial/institutional processes (triggered by motions) Conditioning moment
Conditioned path shaping event New path
l
✴
Secondly, the conditioning moments themselves can be associated with numerous spatial and/or
institutional processes and their driving motions, by extension. This provides an improved
perception of how and to what extent spatial and/or institutional processes contribute to the
moulding of a specific moment that subsequently sets-up the conditions for a path shaping event.
The framework thus allows for a nuanced assemblage and potential categorisation of processes
as opposed to the rather simple approach of linking historical moments to forma a quasi-causal
chain.
At length, the above describes framework of PDT results in the hypothesis that spatial and/or
institutional processes affect particular moments, which in turn support and induce path shaping
events that ultimately enable a break-away from an established pathway. The involved forces
(spatial/institutional processes, conditioning moments, conditioned path shaping events) can
thereby offer a contextualised explanation of their occurrence. When looking at the conditioned
path shaping event of port withdrawal, for example, tracing the hypothesis along the framework
leads to the hypothesis that the withdrawal was set-up by containerisation (the condoning event),
which again was induced by numerous spatial and/or institutional processes and the respective
driving motions.
Eventually, the combination of two differing theoretical frameworks of PDT, to a large extent,
also rests on the two-tiered investigative method of the thesis. Firstly, the historical outlines of
urban port development and political-cultural landscapes in planning with the aim of determining
characteristic trajectories and pathways in planning. Secondly, the short-term and more detailed
path analysis of recent waterfront developments against the backdrop of the shock of ports
withdrawing from the city centres with the aim of linking these developments to pathways
highlighted through the macro-historical research.
3. Research and Analytical Methods
The research is divided into three parts. The first part is devoted to the macro-historical study of
spatial and social port developments in Rotterdam and Hamburg. The outlook thereby relies on
the study of literature in compliance with the methods of HI. The method is equally applied for the
following research part, albeit by looking through a different lens. In contrast to the emphasis put
on spatial aspects for the macro-historical look on urban port developments, the second research
part glances over the relationships between politics and planning traditions in both cities and
countries, by extension. Finally, the third research part looks at the waterfront developments of
the Kop van Zuid and the HafenCity in order to align them with the preceding historical findings.
The macro-historical view of HI and CHR together with a zoom-in on the examination of a
specific recent planning approach, enables to trace reciprocal effects between long-term historical
pathways and more contemporary developments. The results from the first and second research
parts thus set the stage for the alignment of the case studies by use of the above elaborated
framework of PDT in the analytical part of the thesis (chapter 7).
3.1 Comparative Historical Research
Following Tilly (1984), social processes are to be scrutinised on four distinct historical levels: the
world-historical, the world-systemic, the macro-historical, and the micro-historical level. For the
purpose of this thesis the research engages in macro-historical research and analysis, in which
“we seek to account for particular big structures and large processes and to chart their alternate
forms within given world systems” (61). At the macro-historical level, Tilly argues, such large
processes as proletarianization, urbanisation, capital accumulation, state making, and
bureaucratisation lend themselves to effective analysis (74). In accordance with the sense that
processes of industrialisation disrupted existing spatial and social patterns of port-city
connections (Schubert, 2001: 56), the starting point for the historical research is put to roughly
the mid 19
thcentury.
The employment of HI for the purpose of this thesis largely rests on the quest and analysis of
pertinent research literature in accordance with the macro-historical core of the method. Building
up on HI, the study approaches techniques that follow the method of comparative historical
research (CHR). CHR uses systematic comparison and analysis of processes over time in order
to explain large-scale outcomes (Mahoney, 2004: 81). The idea of 'systematic comparison'
thereby suggests the juxtaposition of both different data types as well as designated case
studies.
Commonly, the collection of comparative historical data distinguishes between four central
schemes (Schutt 2012): archival data, secondary sources, running records and recollections.
Typically, when approaching CHR most emphasis is being laid on archival data, or primary
sources, such as official documents. Secondary sources refer to the works of other people,
usually academics or, more precisely, historians, whom have written scholarly historiographical
pieces. Running records refer to (ongoing) series of statistical data. Finally, recollections include
sources such as autobiographies, memoirs or diaries (387-408).
For the purposes of the macro-historical research of this thesis, the data collection methods
of running records (quantitative data) and recollecting records (oral history) were abdicated. This
seems legitimate since the extent of the thesis demands for a reasonable limitation of data
collection and analysis. The disregard of the two methods furthermore rests on the premise that
both approaches are sufficiently reflected in the employed research literature. Furthermore, the
detailed assessment of oral history runs the risk of digressing too far from the topic, whereas the
limited number of case studies cannot permit the benefits of direct quantitative research. The
historical research for both approaches – the urban port developments as well as the
political-cultural environments and their relation to overarching planning traditions – thus focusses on the
use of secondary sources.
Under the umbrella of HI, the methods of CHR allows the comparison of a variety of data
types and techniques, ranging from “narrative histories [that have] much in common with
qualitative methods to analyses of secondary data that are in many respects like traditional
[quantitative] survey research” (Schutt, 2012: 408). Complementary to secondary sources and in
line with qualitative research as practiced in social sciences, the study employs a number of
expert interviews. These interviews predominantly serve the research purpose of the case
studies. However, in addition to scholars and professionals of urban planning, for both cases
historians with relevant expertise have been interviewed. Consequently, insights from these
individual talks serve as a corresponding data type under the methods of HI and CHR.
For the case of the Kop van Zuid, Paul van der Laar, associate professor with the Department
of History, Culture and Communication at the Erasmus University, provided insights on the
political, cultural and institutional history of Rotterdam in respect to urban planning. Additionally,
Len de Klerk from the Planning Department of the University of Amsterdam and author of
numerous historical publications on urban development in the Netherlands, gives account on
planning traditions and how they relate to the development of the Kop van Zuid. For the case of
the HafenCity, Lisa Kosok Professor for Urban and Cultural History at HafenCity University
Hamburg and expert on the institutional history of European port and industrial cities, engaged
in an extensive interview about the political-cultural setting of Hamburg and its relationship to
the spatial and institutional development of the port.
At length, the historical research results in a focus on 1) the spatial and social development
of the port areas and 2) the relationship between political settings and planning practices. Both
focusses are methodologically approached through macro-history. Naturally, the first research
part focusses on spatial developments. However, following the idea that social processes are
largely influenced by spatial developments (Braudel, 1977), the research emphasises the
interdependencies and reciprocal effects between port and liveable city. The second research
part puts some emphasis on the different national and local political systems of Rotterdam and
Hamburg and how they relate to or potentially affect planning practices. The research thereby
attempts to approximate the political climate under which planning evolved and developed. The
historical abstract of each city's political-cultural characteristics and planning approaches
associates overarching planning systems, i.e. the political landscape, with planning strategies, on
the one hand. On the other, the political setting will ultimately help to contextualise specific
processes in the planning and development of the respective cases and to place them in the
framework of PDT.
Naturally, both approaches to some extent overlap. The historical observation of spatial and
social developments in a specific area necessarily glances politics and planning institutions.
Vis-à-vis, the examination of historical political-cultural settings in relation to planning automatically
meets with spatial and social aspects. The division of the research into two parts is triggered
predominantly by the aim of looking through different lenses (spatial/social vs.
political/institutional). In accordance with the supposed alignment of historical pathways with
recent circumstances, the historical research parts ultimately determine the focus for the ensuing
case studies.
3.2 Case Studies
In order to test the above elaborated framework of PDT the thesis assumes a moment of shock
that lead to an event resulting in a break-away from an established pathway in planning. The
shock is defined as the ports withdrawing from the city centres in the course of globalised trade
in the second half of the 20th century, a course commonly referred to as containerisation. For
the purpose of this thesis, this event is not further researched but treated as preconditioned. The
subsequent event is represented by the subsequent waterfront developments in areas formerly
used for port activities.
Containerisation is a system of freight transport that uses containers as its central logistical
mean. The system became widely applied after World War II. It dramatically reduced the costs
of transport, thereby supporting global economic restructuring over the course of the second
half of the 20
thcentury. Containerisation furthermore made the manual sorting of shipments and
the need for warehousing more and more redundant. Consequently, it displaced large numbers
of dock workers, reduced congestion in ports, shortened shipping time and reduced losses from
damage and theft. As a result of this transformation urban port areas underwent significant
spatial and social change (Levinson, 2006).
With increasing containerisation ports began moving away from their original locations,
usually further towards the river mouths into the sea, where topographical circumstances would
allow for harbour activities using larger scale vessels with the need for wider and longer quays
and deeper water-ways. Containerisation also lead to the need for additional and specified
storage space as automatized port operations increased the movement of goods (Romeyke,
1975: 193). Consequently, the harbour areas in many industrial cities became more and more
abandoned, leaving behind redundant harbour facilities, docks and large industrial buildings. In
the course of this process, cities began to plan the redevelopment of former port sites with large
and long-term urban revitalisation programs. The waterfront developments of the Kop van Zuid
(Rotterdam, Netherlands) and the HafenCity (Hamburg, Germany) represent such characteristic
waterfront regeneration projects.
The Kop van Zuid is a neighbourhood in Rotterdam located on the south bank of the Nieuwe
Maas river opposite the northern original centre of town (see image 1). The development was
built on abandoned sites formerly used for port operations. The vacant spaces were thereby
turned into urban areas. The Erasmus Bridge built in the course of the project connects the south
with the north of the city, whereby it arguably determines a new city centre. First concrete plans
for the transformation of the area surfaced in the late 1970s. In the mid/late 1980s a
comprehensive masterplan for the development came into action, focussing on retail, office and
residential buildings (Christiaanse, 2012). In 1991, city and municipality voted in favour of the
new zoning regulations for the area, followed by the approval on governmental level in 1994
(Making Connections, 2006).
The Hamburg HafenCity is a quarter in the district Hamburg-Mitte (see image 2). It is located
on the Elbe river island Großer Grasbrook, a former free-trade port area. Similar to the
development of the Kop van Zuid, the development of the HafenCity focussed on mixed use with
hotels, shops, office buildings, and residential housing, whereby the new Elbphilharmonie
concert hall arguably serves as the architectural icon of the HafenCity (Bruns-Berentelg, 2010).
Like in Rotterdam, the decreased logistic and economic importance and the spatial and societal
changes appearing due to the dynamics containerisation lead to new zoning regulations,
relieving the area from its restrictions and allowing its redevelopment (Landesnorm Hamburg,
2006).
Image 1: Location of the Kop van Zuid (Source: De Kop van Zuid. Uitvoerbaarheidsrapportage)
For the purpose of this study, the case of the Kop van Zuid in Rotterdam serves as the 'piece de
résistance'. Utmost research efforts are put in said case. The three research parts for the Kop
van Zuid are therefore significantly longer than those for the HafenCity, whereby they also
employ a more in-depth investigative approach. Consequently, the analysis of the Kop van Zuid
can hark back on a much larger research body than the evaluation of the HafenCity can.
Nonetheless, the (case) comparative approach of the study bares significant weight for both
analysis and conclusion. The abridged observation of Hamburg and the HafenCity will serve as
a pointer to test the suitability of the case for a future more thorough comparison. Incidentally,
this contrast between the meticulous research for one case and a much more broad-stroked
approach for the other is also applied for the macro-historical research.
The emphasis on the Kop van Zuid is reflected in the number of expert interviews produced
for each case (five for KvZ, three for HH). The interviews for both cases thereby approached
scholars and professionals in urban research and planning. For the Kop van Zuid, three
professional planners have been interviewed, two of them directly involved in the development
of the project. The talk with Len de Klerk about traditional and recent planning practices in
Rotterdam complements these interviews. For the case of the HH, the interviews engaged with
a scholar of human and economic geography as well as the current representative
'Oberbaudirektor' (head/director of planning) in Hamburg.
As director of Urban Development of the City of Rotterdam from 1986 to 1991 and director of
the Rotterdam Urban Planning and Housing Department from 1991 to 1993, Riek Bakker is often
seen as one of the central and pivotal figures in the realisation of the initial development steps
for the Kop van Zuid. Her fairly personal account of the development provides vital insights on
the processes of policy- and decision-making. Barbara van den Broek, in turn, is the current
co-project leader of the ongoing development. She discusses her view on the recent and current
planning processes for the area, prominently considering the roles of private investors and
design aspects in the development. Complementary to the planners directly associated with the
project, Joost Schrijnen was interviewed, member of the Directorate of Urban Planning and
Housing Rotterdam from 1992-2001. His account largely revolves around issues of privatisation
and shifts in property rights in the area.
3.3 Analysis
The macro-historical overview on urban port developments and political-cultural landscapes
founds a basis for the alignment of the case studies. Both historical research parts have a
specific focus: spatial and social changes in urban port development as opposed to the
institutional and organisational shifts in politics and adjacent planning systems. The research of
the case study will form the body to test whether or not a waterfront development accounts for
a break-away from either of the unveiled pathways. In accordance with the preceding research,
where the priority is put on the case of the Kop van Zuid, the analytical part focusses on the
waterfront development in Rotterdam.
The central path shaping events from the historical research of urban port development will
be listed in a table, assigning their time of occurrence, their nature (spatial, social, institutional)
and their effect on the moulding of the pathway. Following the historical analysis, the case study
of the Kop van Zuid will be summarised in individual tables for conditioning moments and aligned
with spatial/social or institutional/organisational processes and their respective motions.
Ultimately, the conditioning moments will present a gathering of happenings and instants that
enabled the development of the waterfront and consequently account for the assumed
break-away from path dependence.
4. Urban Port Development in Rotterdam and Hamburg
The following chapter presents an overview of the history of urban port developments in
Rotterdam and Hamburg, respectively. As elaborated in the research methods, the examination
of historical trajectories does not raise claims of completeness nor of empirical evidence. Rather
it accounts for a condensed narrative of urban development in respect to the port areas in both
cities.
In accordance with PDT emphasis is being laid on crucial moments and events that
presumably account for the shaping of specific planning trajectories and resulting path
dependence. The focus thereby lays on spatial and social changes and consequent shifts in
planning policy. Together with the second research part – the short summary of each city's
political-cultural environment and planning tradition (chapter 5) – this chapter will build the body
for the analytical aligning of the case studies (chapter 7).
4.1 A Close Relationship – Port and City in Rotterdam
The development of a clearly defined waterfront along the port of Rotterdam dates back to the
17
thcentury and followed three main factors. Firstly, the geographical situation of the city, which
allowed for the mooring of large ships on the deep berths along the quays. Secondly, the
allegiance of Amsterdam with the Spanish crown made Rotterdam the only port alternative in the
Eighty Years' War of the United Provinces against Spain from 1568-1648. And thirdly, the city’s
bourgeoise discovered the port area as an urban-cultural hub early on, an occurrence that carried
into the twentieth century.
Harbour operations experienced vast growth and dominated the character of the port over
most of the 17
thcentury. In the late 1600s, however, the exclusive use of the area for shipyard
activities faded into the background. The Rotterdam Chamber of Commerce and the United East
India Company agreed to build their new headquarters on the main quay. For this purpose, the
companies relocated ongoing harbour operations (Meyer, 1999: 292) thereby arguably marking
the beginning of the transformation of the waterfront area into a liveable urban space. This coined
the nature and image of the waterfront and its consequent mixed usage.
In the mid/late 1800s, the urban boundaries of the city became more and more problematic.
The heavy increase in port activities lead to shortages in mooring space, high population density
due to growing number of immigrant workers, and difficulties in water management. The
problems of insufficient water management thereby had a concrete effect on the physical
connection of city and port in Rotterdam. In an effort to solve said problems the construction of
ring of canals around the port was initiated in the 1840s. This freed Rotterdam from the authority
of the Schieland Polder Board and allowed the city to take water management in its own hands.
The canals thereby strengthened the connection of port function and liveable urban space.
Rotterdam developed further south and west, partly relieving the city of the problems of
increasingly large-scale harbour operations and the accompanying population growth (Meyer:
299).
The canal belt around the city was initiated in 1839. The approach introduced a new planning
strategy to Rotterdam by combining necessity with preference. Albeit that the canals were
constructed as sewage systems, the planning purposed their function as urban living space.
Landscape architects were hired to lay emphasis on the design of the canals for their additional
function as promenades. The canals established a typology that combined the waterways
needed for the future expansion of the port with spaces for housing and other urban functions
(Meyer: 299).
Under the lead of Rose, the city started to expand both towards west (Cool Polder) and south
(Feijenord) with the aim of defining the stretches as new urban expansion areas. A plan issued
in 1864 stipulated the connection of the Waterstad with the south bank. Land fillings thereby
would narrow the riverways between the north and south bank while the dismantling of
landmasses on the south bank would redirect transit ship traffic south of the new island system,
thereby closing ranks between the separated regions (Image 2).
Image 2: The expansion plan from 1864 would create a system of islands connecting the north to the south bank (Source: Meyer, 1999)
Plans to develop the port and city to the west appeared simultaneously. In the mid 19
thcentury
the city bought the adjoining land from the neighbouring Delftshaven, a municipality that fell
under the political administration of Rotterdam in 1886. At the time of the purchase, however,
Delftshaven still held political power over the area, stipulating that the land was not to be used
for industrial purposes (Meyer: 300).
Both plans to expand the city, west and south, aimed at identifying the region as a mix of port
functions and liveable urban area, emphasising the connection of otherwise separated areas.
Against the backdrop of this planning approach, a “policy […] gradually evolved that combined
exigency and enjoyment” (300). This lead to the design of the area under the principles of
creating extra space, i.e. more space than actually needed for the industrial functions, and of
differentiation. The latter thereby focussed on materialisation and design of new public areas,
often pushing the perception of the sites as mainly industrial into the background (Image 3).
Image 3: The urban facade to the river with the port laying to the rear. (Source: Meyer, 1999)
Trees lined along the quays separating shipping zones and urban space helped to identify the
quay as a spatially coherent unit, as exemplified by the Boompjes, a promenade along the
waterfront. The recreational function of the Boompjes remained central until the late 19
thcentury.
The opening of the Willemsbrug in 1878 marked the beginning of the promenade being more
and more dominated by traffic functions, a dynamic that was ultimately established with the
reconstruction of the area after the bombing of Rotterdam in World War II (StaRTM IX-E-6').
In 1872, the member of council and businessman Lodewijk Pincoffs founded the
Rotterdamsche Handelsvereeniging, a private trade organisation that aimed at using the island
of Feijenoord for setting-up harbour facilities. For this purpose, the association received a land
lease from the municipality of Rotterdam, thereby pooling public with private interests (Roo’s
oude Effecten, n.d.). After the company’s bankruptcy in 1879 due to the embezzlement of trusts,
politicians and the public called for more autonomous decision-making processes in planning
on the municipal level. The new director of the Department of Public Work G. J. de Jongh would
further establish this policy by a re-emphasising the development of port and city westwards
(301-302).
Under the leadership of de Jongh, the planning of the city and its connection to the harbour
became increasingly centralised. The Department of Public Work, the municipality’s planning
department, stretched its scope of influence by expanding activities from the design and
organisation of plans for street and quays to the realisation and management of warehouses,
entrepots, harbour cranes, and ferries. In the dynamic of this newly concentrated “complete
arsenal of port facilities” (302), Rotterdam annexed further Charlois and IJsselmonde on the
south-west laying on the left bank of the Maas. The focus for port development, however,
remained on the south bank. In 1898, De Jongh positioned two new port basins on the left bank
of the Mass, running parallel to the river stream in order to allow large for large ships to easily
manoeuvre in and out (Meyer: 302).
De Jongh continually pushed the development of the port under an umbrella of increasingly
centralised planning. He attempted to establish Rotterdam as a residential city in connection
with the port. His plans focussed on shifting the city centre westwards to the Cool Polder, which
by now had been annexed from Delfshaven. The establishment of the Cool Polder as a mixed
port and urban area as not supported by the city council, however. For the advancement of
mixed development of the south bank, on the other hand, the same council acted as an authority
when purchasing private property. As a result of this, the development of the Cool Polder was
largely left to private investors. Ultimately, the expansion of the city both over the Maas to the
south as well as to the west represented the prominence of connecting residential useage with
port functions in Rotterdam (Meyer: 303-304).
In 1872 the Nieuwe Waterweg opened, a canal that kept the port accessible to large vessels,
an answer to the ongoing increase in shipping traffic and port operations. The canal provided
easier connection of Rotterdam to the sea, whereby it changed the function of the port: from
storing processing and trading of incoming goods to transhipping them as quickly as possible.
Simultaneously, Rotterdam vastly increased in population, pushing the city to expand its territory
by seizing neighbouring municipalities (Buursnik, 1997).
By the end of the 19
thcentury, public anxiety in respect to that rapid growth of Rotterdam
increased. Between 1890 and 1910 the population grew by an average of 10,000 people a year
(Fassbinder, 1992: 81). The concerns mostly focussed on poverty and social decay amongst the
working classes that streamed into the city. In the course of this the harbour was more and more
perceived as losing its merits for of a liveable urban space with cultural qualities. De Jongh,
however, saw in exactly this dynamic the city's greatest potential, namely the combination of
port economy and civil society, which he understood as the characteristic culture of Rotterdam.
In the spirit of this, Rotterdam entrepreneurs, intellectuals and public authorities began to enter
a close cooperation concerned with the future development of Rotterdam. Tied together by
informal networks, this new “civic culture” (Meyer: 305) advanced the spatial development of the
city with the intention of merging economic, social and cultural developments into a sound entity
(308-309).
The duality of city and port in Rotterdam was strengthened by the connection of the
Waterstad with the south bank via the Wilhelmsburg bridge, completed in 1878 (Holland.com,
n.d.). However, the emphasis laid on this duality by informal networks and further enforced by
the infrastructural interference of the bridge was also met with opposition. Concerns revolved
around the socio-cultural effects that came with the constant stressing of the connection of port
and city in times of vast growth of harbour activities. Additionally, concerns were brought up that
if the city follows the development of the port
2, that Rotterdam would turn into a linear city and
thereby loose cohesion, both spatially and socially. In an effort to emphasise social aspects of
urban development under the premise of an ever-growing harbour industry, a new division was
created within the administration for public works in 1926, the Department of Urban
Development, which turned into an independent agency in 1931 (Meyer: 309).
The Department of Urban Development followingly was responsible for both the planning of
the spatial expansion of the port as well as the advancement of Rotterdam as a liveable city.
This changed over the course of the 1930s. The fast and complex technological changes in port
and harbour activities demanded for more specialised know-how in handling questions of port
development. Consequently, J. Ph. Backx, chairman of the Shipping Association South, argued
that port management should be outsourced from the Department of Urban Development and
centralised in a new independent body. In 1932, the autonomous Municipal Port Authority was
2Although the concrete physical withdrawal of the port from the city centre only came with containerisation in the 1950s and 1960s, the course was already predicted in the early 20th century (Meyer: 309).
founded. This marked a shift in policy responsibilities and a break in the relation of port and city.
Although Backs argued for an ongoing mental connection of the urban population with their
harbour, the port began to develop as a separate spatial entity. As a result of this, the
development of the harbour areas on the south-eastern side of the Mass was increasingly
neglected (Meyer: 312).
The Department of Urban Development advanced the further development of urban areas in
an attempt to create an organic city. The approach grew out of the English garden city movement
and revolved around the idea of creating a city that would concentrically develop from the centre
outwards, on both sides of the Maas. This approach was largely in accordance with a functional
planning approach under Fordism, which aimed at a more or less strict separation of work,
residency and recreation (Hall, 2014: 242-243; RTM4). Transport infrastructure thereby took a
central role in development, a tendency strengthened by the creation of a cross-river connection
west of the centre with the new Maastunnel at its heart. The approach further took away focus
of the areas south-east of the river, leaving the Kop van Zuid in a position where the site “no
longer held an important function in urban plans or in the development of the port” (Meyer, 1999:
316).
The German bombing of Rotterdam in 1940 in World War II, in which almost the entire historic
city centre was destroyed, marks a severe break in urban development with both spatial and
social consequences. Due to the vast extent of the damage the decision was taken to demolish
the remaining structures and rebuild the city centre as a whole.
3To some extent, the destruction
and consequent reconstruction allowed the city to re-invent itself. Broad-scale, modernising
changes in the urban structure were initiated that before would likely have accounted for too
radical changes (Diefendorf, 1990: 1-16). The first plan for reconstruction was submitted by the
director of Port Authority Willem Gerrit Witteveen in 1941 (Stadsontwikkeling Rotterdam, 1981).
With the integration of wide streets and sidewalks into the old landscape of the city the plan
adumbrates reconstruction under the premise of modernism. Together with the idea of moving
the main dike alongside the riverbank in order to protect the Waterstad area from flooding, the
modernist paradigm manifested to most radical spatial changes (Meyer: 311).
The relocation of the dike was met with criticism from the Inner Circle of Rotterdam Club, a
group that designated itself to promote the connection of the city with the Maas. Their opposition
revolved around the concern that the relocated dike would create a spatial segregation between
city and river. In the years to come, the south bank of the river would indeed be neglected for
3With the exception of iconic landmarks such as the Laurenskerk, the trade centre, the post office or the town hall, which were kept and/or rebuilt (Christiaanse, 2012).
approaches in urban development. The regions were continually held at arm's length in terms of
spatial expansion and the progression of policies needed for urban development. Ultimately, this
neglection paved the way for the south bank to become both a transit area and one for the
development of cheap housing for “groups of residents […] who were regarded as a bad
influence on the social and cultural well-being of the city's population” (316).
In 1946 the city council adopted the Basisplan voor de Herbouw van den Binnenstad (Basic
Plan for the Reconstruction of the City) propounded by Cornelis van Traa, Witteveen's
successor. The efforts of reconstruction thereby focussed on the north bank of the Maas
(Interview RTM3; Stadsontwikkeing Rotterdam, 1981: 11-12). Large emphasis was continually
being put on the representative character of the Waterstad with the Boompjes as its urban
façade. However, with Backx as their spearhead several groups and initiatives were formed in
the 1940s that stressed the connection of port and city in the process of reconstruction, the
aforementioned Inner Circle of Rotterdam Club being one of them (317-318).
With his 1946 plan for reconstruction van Traa consequently stressed the connection of port
and city. In contrast to earlier focal points in reconstruction, however, under van Traa matters of
social coherence were treaded with increasing importance. Social issues that had already
occurred at the brink of the century began to regain momentum in the immediate post-war
period. Building up on these concerns, the reconstruction now gave great importance to the
creation of public space in relation to the connection of port and city. With this, van Traa hoped
to achieve a collective identity under what he called 'openness'. Out of the desire to create an
entity of port and city through the mean of public space, the Window to the River developed, a
passageway stretching from the north down to the waterfront. Ultimately, the corridor connected
to the new Maas Boulevard, a traffic axis the occupied the former area of the dike with a wide
tree-lined street (Meyer: 318-321).
Despite these efforts, the link between port and liveable city continually decreased. On the
one hand, this was owed to the fact, that harbour operations kept moving westwards, away from
the city centre, due to the shift in port logistics that came with the rise of containerisation, a
process that became a major element in the imminent economic globalisation (Stadsontwikkeing
Rotterdam, 1981: 140-141). Simultaneously, in 1953, the Netherlands experienced heavy
flooding, which lead to the introduction of the Delta Act, a law that would introduce a new
minimum height for dikes surrounding populated areas, thereby 'closing the window to the city'
and thus weakening its attempt to physically connect port and city. Consequently, the focus for
reconstruction on the north and northwest was strengthened, neglecting the connection of the
Waterstad area as a liveable part of the city and, by extension, the Kop van Zuid, which by the
end of the 1960s had become an “urban enclave” (Meyer: 322-325).
Image 4: The 'Window to the River' from the inner city connecting to the Maas Boulevard (Source: Meyer, 1999)
