The aim of the $10m investment launched by the Port and City of Los Angeles is to completely open up the waterfront, providing a new linkage with Wilmington and San Pedro. A promenade will be created, dedicated to active mobilities such as walking, cycling, or scooters. Residents will be able to walk around the city-port interface, opposite the active port of Los Angeles, from the promenade at Wilmington Waterfront Park – due for delivery in mid-2023 – to the AltaSea campus, a blue economy incubator located in the outer port zone.

The Bilbao Port Authority (Spain) has published its Strategic Plan 2023-2026. The ports strategy to remain a green, competitive and responsible port rests on three proposals: to support its customers in addressing the impacts of the energy transition, to maintain the competitiveness of the industry by adapting port infrastructures, and to contribute to the social and economic environment. On an international scale, the Strategic Plan aims to make Bilbao a key port on the Atlantic axis. To prepare this plan, the Port Authority carried out an analysis of future trends that will have an impact on the 2030 and 2050 horizon.

Hong Kong (Special Administrative Region of China) is currently facing land scarcity issues due to urban growth. The Hongkong United Dockyards, a historic yard group, has applied to rezone its unused repair facility on Tsing Yi island into a residential complex. The 19.9 hectares of land would help address Hong Kong’s housing needs as they would be redeveloped into over 15.000 private residential and public housing flats according to the proposal submitted to the Town Planning Board. This move is a small piece in the wider debate ongoing about the future of the city’s container terminals and how to revalorize old maritime infrastructure.

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has welcomed the new landmark agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction as a valuable addition to its efforts to protect biodiversity. In line with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and the Kunming-Montreal Global Framework for Biodiversity, the new agreement addresses conservation goals, the creation of marine protected areas, the use of environmental impact assessments, and capacity-building and transferring of marine technology. The agreement will provide an additional protective measure in the IMO’s catalogue to protect marine life from various hazards created by human activities on seas, including shipping activities.

The Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site, a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in the dock area of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), will benefit from new protection and enhancement measures. The main priority announced by the Brazilian National Historical and Artistic Heritage Institute (Iphan) will be the resumption of the Participative Management Committee that was extinct in 2019. This committee will include the civil society and other relevant government institutions and will have the duty of preparing a management plan, responding to international heritage protection recommendations. Another key measure will be the creation of the Reference Center for the Celebration of African Heritage at the adjacent “Pedro II” historical docks building. The Valongo Wharf was built during the 19th century for the slave trade from Africa to Brazil.