Port Cities between global networks and local transformations

Throughout history, the access to large bodies of water facilitated the foundation, rise and prosperity of human settlements. Besides the vital quality of fresh water, the connecting potential of water was the decisive factor that prompted these developments. Since centuries, oceans, seas, rivers and lakes allowed for transportation, exchange and trading. Thereby, they connected places around the world and enabled a direct connection between different cities, states and cultures on a global scale. Over time, these distant places faced similar challenges and took part in related developments. People around the world developed ports, warehouses, and other facilities to accommodate rapidly changing types of ships and containers, from papyrus boats to sail ships and super tankers; and neighboring cities had to contemporaneously adapt to new technologies, flows of goods, people and ideas.