Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - OCEANURB (the unseen spaces of extended urbanization in the North Sea)

Teaser

OCEANURB addresses the issue of the intensive use of the North Sea and the resulting transformation of spatial relations, which threaten the sea’s ecological balance and create new, unfamiliar geographical places offshore. “Extended urbanization” (Brenner & Schmid) is...

Summary

OCEANURB addresses the issue of the intensive use of the North Sea and the resulting transformation of spatial relations, which threaten the sea’s ecological balance and create new, unfamiliar geographical places offshore. “Extended urbanization” (Brenner & Schmid) is the extension of urban systems into distant areas, previously understood as rural or natural, including the sea. The North Sea is considered one of the most industrialised seas in the world and supports transportation and communication infrastructure, installations for the oil and gas industry, an increasing number of areas dedicated to offshore wind and an important fishing industry. These high levels of urbanization have not been recognized because they remain invisible to the general public and planning and management of the offshore is in governmental hands.
The overall objective of the project is to render the processes of urbanisation unfolding in the North Sea visible, to demonstrate the continuum of these processes across the land-sea threshold and therefore to promote the sea as a cultural commons.
Throughout history the North Sea has been the centre of vital exchange and provided great wealth to its littoral countries. The project aims to reverse the view of the sea as a periphery or a void, and demonstrate its central role in the production processes of the region and beyond and its importance as a cultural space.
The research hopes to raise awareness and to encourage public engagement in the sea-space. Ultimately this engagement could evolve into new stewardship models, which will pressure spatial planning to include socio-cultural and ecological concerns, rather than purely economic concerns.
The project therefore promotes a holistic, inter-disciplinary view of the ocean which connects its geo-physical, biological and socioeconomic dimensions through spatial means and uses spatial analysis to enable the invisible urbanization processes in ocean space to be represented, evaluated and shared to a range of stakeholders, academics and the general public.

Work performed

The work was carried out according to the thematic Work Packages:
SEASCAPE, INFRASTRUCTURE, ARCHITECTURAL PRODUCTION, MILESTONE 1: North Sea Conference, LANDINGS and CONCLUSIONS.
Each package contained modules of GIS data collection, a literature review and fieldwork at selected sites around the North Sea. In addition, the project included training modules and dissemination activities spread throughout the fellowship period.

a. GIS data and spatial analysis
The GIS data was searched and collected from diverse sources; public institutions around the North Sea, collaborative research and monitoring projects and global data-banks. Data relating to offshore infrastructure and planning are most frequently held in national depositories, therefore seven national data banks were searched. The lack of a central data source for the North Sea Region has been widely identified as a critical issue and the collection of layers deposited at the TU open source data bank stands to serve as a useful resource for North Sea research in different disciplinary fields.

b. Literature review
For each of the themes listed above, a literature review was carried out using technical reports, strategic planning documents, historical studies on the North Sea, academic papers and newspaper articles.

c. Fieldwork
The fieldwork carried out at chosen sites aimed to gain a close-up, human perspective on spatial and socio-cultural conditions. Through an initial analysis, the four sites below were chosen in addition to the Netherlands;
- Port of Rotterdam & Ports of the Humber estuary
- Dornum, Ostfriesland, Germany
- Ã…gotnes, near Bergen, Norway
- Peterhead, Scotland

d. Training
Training was undertaken throughout the project by training-through-research where direct involvement with the Chair research team on the North Sea Project created a natural platform for 2-way transfer of knowledge. In addition, research colloquia and workshops were attended. New skills were acquired through specific courses on GIS training and improving Interview skills for Research.

e. Dissemination
Dissemination of the project results included different formats to link ocean space to the urban debate and vice-versa; Convening of an international conference, peer-reviewed papers, book chapters for edited volumes, conference presentations (publication of abstracts only), posters and online media postings.
A wider public audience was reached through the “European Maritime Day in my Country” initiative, the hosting of a public lecture on World Oceans Day and presenting on European Researcher’s Night 2018.

RESULTS
a) Mapping
Outputs: GIS layers and compiled maps relevant to the topics “Seascape” and “Infrastructure” in the North Sea;
bathymetry, seabed composition, hydrographic regions, currents, fish populations, shipping lanes, cables/pipelines, energy installations, research and monitoring infrastructure, administrative boundaries (EEZ) and protected areas.
Maps are powerful tools of communication and the cartographic work produced during the project has been able to communicate the spatial conditions of the North Sea under extended urbanization, directly and effectively.

b) Literature review & Fieldwork
Results of the literature review and fieldwork were fed into the presentations, papers, and essays produced during the funding period, complimentary to the cartographic representations. An important result is also the photographic documentation of the fieldwork, which brings peripheral and unnoticed situations around the North Sea, both offshore and at Landings, into focus as evidence of the shape, texture, atmosphere and local personalities of extended urbanization.

c) Dissemination
Please see the Technical Report Part B for the Dissemination list according to the Work Packages.

Final results

OCEANURB has aimed to move beyond the state of the art by forging an interdisciplinary dialogue between the built environment disciplines, geography and maritime expertise. The planning, management and control of sea-space has become dominated by technological science. The project argues for the involvement of Human Sciences and the Arts, including Architecture and Urban Design, and has sought audiences in forums where the divide between these scientific groups can be straddled.
Engagement with the space of the sea is a cultural and ecological issue, manifest in spatial terms. The project, in particular through the convening of an interdisciplinary conference, has brought diverse experts together and initiated a highly fruitful dialogue, creating a platform and network for further work as well as solidly founding the topic of the Urbanisation of the Sea within academic and professional circles.

The potential impact of the project is to communicate the importance of collaboration across sea borders and to understand the sea as a central productive and ecological space. This stands to change the conceptualisation of the sea within regional and international policy-making, towards considering alternative types of zoning, stewardship and participation.

Website & more info

More info: http://viscousspace.com.