Harbours in the Limfjord

The Limfjord region is changing and the harbour areas in Limfjorden are transformed from commercial ports to new urban waterfronts. From being a source of life and point of departure for urban location and development the function and meaning of these areas are now changing. The new urban areas are developed with housing, offices and leisure areas, in many cases similar in form and function to other areas of the city, with the fjord as a mere backdrop.

The water in the fjord is no longer a main route for goods, but takes on new meanings. The water in Limfjorden collects and separates; it is a barrier to be overcome, but also a collective identity, based on a common history. The project focuses on examining strategies for harbour transformation of 10 selected harbours in the fjord, and how these transformations are using water proximity. The project tries to understand the harbours as compositions of physical environments and human users in the form of local stakeholders and sailing tourists. Local stakeholders are involved through workshops and focus group interviews.

Users are analysed through interviews on site. The analysis of the physical and human actors form the basis to unfold the Limfjord region's cohesive and local potentials of each harbour through conceptual designs on specific sites. The goal is on this basis to develop new concepts and design ideas that can strengthen relations across the water.

PhD project by Postdoc Jacob Bjerre Mikkelsen, Aalborg University'

Full PhD-report (in Danish with English summary)