David Pinder

Cultural heritage and sustainability in the coastal zone: experiences in south west England

Abstract Theoretical ideas of sustainability of heritage are applied to a practical case study. The south western peninsula of England has a rich variety of coastal heritage, analysis of which is undertaken via the ‘fields’ of nature, landscape, buildings, sites, artefacts, activities and people. The value of treating the cultural heritage apart from the natural heritage is seriously questioned, particularly in a coastal context. Disputes relating to the preference for one type of heritage over another are identified. While major successes are demonstrated in landscape and urban conservation, numerous failures and challenges are also recognised. It is argued that, reflecting institutional dominance of the conservation agenda, the heritage most at risk is often that which carries most meaning for local people and traditional visitors. Relating the study to the sustainability dimensions of economic development and environmental protection, the paper questions whether these wider definitions of sustainability can be applied to coastal heritage, especially in a remote region.

Offshore oil and gas: global resource knowledge and technological change

Abstract It is argued that the contribution of technological change to the offshore oil and gas industrys progress is under-researched. As a prelude this theme, the changing geography of known offshore oil and gas resources is reviewed. Significant, and largely technologically dependent, developments are identified in terms of the industrys global spread, its extension into deep and ultradeep waters and its ability to enhance output from well-established oil and gas provinces. Three sections (on the evolution of exploration and production rigs, drilling techniques and the application of IT to improve resource knowledge and access) then examine the relationships between technological change and the offshore industrys progress. It is concluded that new technologies improve knowledge of, and access to, resources via four distinctive routes, but that the full impact of R & D is frequently related to the inter-dependence of technologies. Opportunities for further research are identified.

Heritage and change on the naval waterfront : opportunity and challenge

The paper examines naval waterfront decline, the potential heritage legacy of that decline, and the challenges which that legacy poses for urban and coastal zone planning and management. An initial analysis of decline processes is juxtaposed with exploration of the states changing role in the abandonment of naval waterfronts. The range of potential heritage resources likely to be released by naval retreat is assessed, and it is shown that this rich endowment frequently extends well beyond the immediate urban waterfront to engage other parts of the cityport and the wider coastal zone. The impressive 20th-century growth of naval ports raises issues concerning heritage definition, but it is also argued that naval heritage of whatever era has the capacity to create an additional and extensive range of planning and management challenges. These extend from building constraints, through aesthetic issues to economic-impact and market considerations. It is on these challenges, which often contrast sharply with commercial waterfront experiences, that the case for naval waterfront research is based.

Seaport decline and cultural heritage sustainability issues in the UK coastal zone

Abstract The role of commercial and naval port evolution in the growth of coastal zone cultural heritage is outlined and problems of heritage sustainability are identified. It is proposed that these problems may be related not only to the issue of heritage conservation but also to the difficulties of identifying appropriate new uses that will secure the long-term economic viability of the port system’s patrimony. The conservation issue is explored through a case study of cultural heritage loss in the UK’s South Wales coal ports. Issues relating to economic sustainability are examined with respect to a defunct, yet architecturally outstanding, naval facility, the Royal William Yard, Plymouth, UK. It is argued that both problems can be better understood with reference to clusters of interacting and controlling ‘environments’ within which the cultural heritage is set. It is concluded that coastal zone management must recognise the challenges posed by such ‘environments’ if effective strategies to secure the future of port-based cultural heritage are to be devised. It is also suggested that the scale and complexity of the challenges are such that there is a leadership role in this sphere for international organisations such as the European Union.

Naval heritage and the revitalisation challenge: lessons from the Venetian Arsenale

In the context of the Venetian Arsenale, the paper explores the difficulties which naval heritage may impose on waterfront revitalisation processes and planning. The rise and decline of this outstanding naval waterfront are outlined and the nature of the heritage legacy is reviewed. State-locality relations are shown to be central to slow regeneration progress to date, but it is demonstrated that revitalisation must overcome additional impediments: neglect and dereliction of the built environment, restoration resource constraints and the severity of the regulatory regime for conservation. Isolation from the city, the adoption of a flexible approach to heritage definition, and the need to assess competing futures are also shown to be relevant challenges. While the Arsenale is considered unique, the conclusion employs the implications of the analysis to propose a research agenda for historic naval waterfronts in general.

Geostrategy and naval port systems: Frameworks for analysis

Strategic and port studies have largely ignored the importance of naval port systems, even though these systems are (1) essential to the pursuit of strategy at sea and (2) influenced fundamentally by geostrategic decision-making. It is proposed that effective research at the interface between geostrategy and naval port systems can be promoted by reference to five interrelated frameworks: strategic, technological, economic, urban and social. The relevance of these is demonstrated and it is argued that their combined effect is to reveal that the geostrategy-port system interface is considerably more complex and challenging than past research has acknowledged. It is on this basis that extensive further research is justified.

THE EUROPEAN INVESTMENT BANK, TRANSPORT INVESTMENT AND EUROPEAN UNION OBJECTIVES: AN EXPLORATORY ANALYSIS

Abstract Although for over 30 years the European Investment Bank (EIB) has provided large-scale funding for transport infrastructure, its activities in this sphere have not been researched. Working primarily through analyses of European Union (EU) documentation, and of more than 700 transport-related loans made by the Bank between 1986 and 1992, this paper provides insights into the structure of this investment; into the mechanisms which have evolved to sustain its continued growth; and into its relationships to EU priorities for the transport sector. Models of EIB clients are proposed, and it is demonstrated that in the majority of the EU periphery a limited number of ‘dominant’ clients have been essential to the impressive expansion of EIB activity. It is also shown that EIB funding coincides only partially with current EU priorities. Although this divergence can in part be considered more apparent than real (in that it is related to data interpretation issues) it is argued that it is primarily a consequence of the Banks terms of reference and of its independence of the main Commission bureaucracy. Research opportunities identified include the need for further investigations into the processes of EIB transport-sector investment and its impact.

Geostrategy, naval ports and local economic development: Brest in an era of strategic reappraisal

French naval strategy is examined and it is demonstrated that continuing ambitions still support significant warship production capacity and substantial naval cityports. The local economic significance of this is explored in the context of Brest, a naval cityport responsible for impressive upward transition in a major European peripheral region. It is argued that a new scenario of long-term naval decline presents opportunities to reject market forces as the vehicle for restructuring and pursue instead an endogenous development strategy. Possible approaches are discussed. Findings are used to suggest wider implications for European sea power and naval cityport development.