Sustainable urban regeneration of Västra Hamnen port area in Malmö

In the last decades, European "cities of water" have started a number of waterfront and port areas regeneration works. According to the European Union directions, urban regeneration projects have been conceived for city areas close to the coastline, driven by the need of economic development and strategic urban design, oriented towards new housing models and lifestyles. Urban designs have redefined public spaces and the morphology of city plans, starting changes to follow social, environmental and economic principles of sustainability that, once applied on a local scale, have a positive impact on the entire community. Among the main examples of urban regeneration plans, the Västra Hamnen port area in Malmo should be mentioned for the very long period of high urban conversion after the shipbuilding industry crisis of 1990s. The urban regeneration project of the area had a rigorous program to improve environmental quality with eco-friendly materials, renewable energy sources, recovery of water resources, pollutant emission reduction and environmental protection. Design solutions and sustainable technologies were applied to the different scales of buildings, open spaces and transport. In the first stage of the project, the residential district Bo01 was built with low energy consumption dwellings. Urban regeneration works provided a new promenade, an urban park, a small seaport and a civic centre for cultural events, heritage of Expo 2001 that was a great opportunity for the project. The Torso tower, designed by Santiago Calatrava, is the distinctive built element, the symbolic union between high technology and environmental sustainability.