Abstract
Port city is an urban organism which integrates two different types of areas: land and water, that create a dynamic, multidimensional spatial network. Due to presence of water, port city has a unique character and significant development potential being the space of flows: goods transshipment, human migrations, dynamic coastal environment. Despite tangible or intangible barriers detaching those two bodies they remain strongly interconnected with great potential for creating lively public space network. Currently, there is an increase in interest in urban design with water or even on water. Aquatic area began to be treated not only as a natural resource and part of the landscape but also as a spatial resource and platform for various urban activities. The perception of the water-land interface zone in the city is therefore undergoing transformation, as a result of which in the last decade the concept of urban blue space began to take shape. It is a space that covers terrestrial as well as aquatic area at the edge of water and land, where water and land are in direct or indirect contact, interacting with each other in terms of spatial, functional, as well as environmental and social aspect, creating a system of tangible and intangible connections. Together with inland areas, urban blue spaces create spatial network of various types of public spaces. The “blue” element contributes to exceptional value of port cities. Due to magnetic appeal of water, which draws public, it increases city’s attractivity. Networking grey, green and blue public areas in port cities has potential to provide urban connection in multiple aspects: social, environmental and communication: encouraging social interactions, contributing to environmental sustainability, promoting walkability and strengthening unique aquatic character of the city. The following paper presents conclusions withdrawn from investigation of urban blue public space network within eighteen small and medium-sized port cities in Poland. Contrary to waterfront areas in metropolies, the subject of areas at the edge of water and land in small and medium urban settlements has not been yet thoroughly elaborated. Moreover, those cities constitute great testing ground for research on water-related public space network, due to their limited size and preserved city-water relation, which has not been significantly weakened due to heavy industrialization and port transformations. Basing on urban blue space mapping and application of graph theory in urban analysis, data on elements of particular networks and their connections has been expressed in numerical indicators, which enabled conducting comparative analysis on public space network structure and level of water-land connection in researched cities. The role of urban blue space in port cities’ urban web is proved to be crucial for prosperity of public space network. Aquatic areas are essential element of port cities’ web, which may be the key for improvement of vitality of public space network and therefore permeability of urban structure.
