Why are Hirtshals and Marseille similar

The port towns of Hirtshals and Marseille have surprisingly many similarities. This was learned at Aalborg Port's port conference, which was held together with Aalborg University Both port cities are built around the port, and in both cities fishing has been the basis. In both cities, transportation has taken over and port activities have grown a lot. So much so that the cities have struggled to keep up. The ports are starting to outgrow the cities. While ports are gaining more and more national importance as transport centers, the city is losing ground and is not getting the "side benefits" that the many jobs in transport and logistics create locally. So what has been done about this trend and what can be done? These questions were addressed by anthropologist Mark Vacher, Saxo Institute, and postgraduate student Ida Lange, AAU, in some very interesting presentations. In Marseille, the city fell into decay, and the well-known crime grew to almost gangsterism. The port moved out of the city and has now grown into one of Europe's largest ports. In the city itself, an urban transformation has been carried out with major national and EU funding. The city has become a tourist gem, a place to go and sit and watch the Mediterranean Sea and expensive yachts. City and port live in a marriage of convenience, but separately. This should not happen to Hirtshals town and port. That is what Ida Lange's presentation is about. In popular terms, it is about avoiding Hirtshals town becoming a place to drive past, and promoting that Hirtshals town and port manage to reap the "side benefits" of the port's rapid development. This very brief summary does not do justice to the two presenters, and it will be very exciting to see the solutions that Ida Lange arrives at in her dissertation. It will be especially exciting for other Danish port cities that are experiencing the same development trends. For more information. Contact Tom Elmer Christensen, Danish Ports. Source: Claus Lassen, AAU