Title:

COSCO and the ‘seesaw’ urbanization of the port of Piraeus

Author:

Alberto Valz Gris

In Territorio 2022 (published in 2023), Vol. 103, pp. 31-36

2023

Valz Gris, A. (2023). COSCO and the ‘seesaw’ urbanization of the port of Piraeus. Territorio, 103, pp. 31-36

DOI: 10.3280/TR2023-103003

This paper is part of the special issue: Global infrastructures and urban transformations edited by Francesca Governa and Angelo Sampieri

Since 2009, cosco Pacific has obtained incremental control over the infrastructures of the Greek port of Piraeus. The significant growth of economic flows involving port infrastructures is accompanied by different forms of interaction with the densely urbanised space where the port operates. On the one hand, the port is in constant search for urban space to be comprehended within its operations, by both expanding its infrastructures and absorbing new areas. On the other hand, its growth is marked by multiple forms of social conflict, both internal and external to the port itself. By describing the emerging spatial articulation of the port of Piraeus, this article proposes an urban reading starting from the frictions that mark its evolution.