Title: Interconnected responses for interconnected problems: synergistic pathways for sustainable wealth in port cities

Authors: Joe Ravetz

Addresses: University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK

Abstract: Port cities as hubs for trade and exchange show the extremes of rapid growth and catastrophic decline: they show the complex and interconnected problems of change in urban systems, and the challenge of maintaining local 'sustainable wealth' and prosperity. This suggests a transition from a material-focused (mono-valent) local economic development to a prosperity-focused (multi-valent) local integrated development. This paper sets out a method and framework for working with such problems and responses: the 'synergistic' approach to mapping and design of complex systems. This helps to identify alternative development pathways, looking beyond a linear model, to a more synergistic model based on creative collaboration and shared intelligence. This mapping method for local integrated development is demonstrated with two contrasting examples from the UK: an urban regeneration case from Liverpool: and an urban public health programme from Glasgow.

Keywords: ports; shipping; environmental change; urban regeneration; public health; sustainable wealth; emergence; complexity; synergistic mapping; port cities; sustainability; economic development; creativity; collaboration; shared intelligence; local integrated development; UK; United Kingdom; Liverpool; Glasgow.

DOI: 10.1504/IJGENVI.2014.064506

International Journal of Global Environmental Issues, 2014 Vol.13 No.2/3/4, pp.362 - 388

Published online: 10 Sep 2014 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article