Middle-size Port Cities against the Covid. Good practices during the pandemic.

As our globalized world is facing an unprecedented health, social and economic crisis, Port Cities are strongly affected due to their connection to the world. On the one hand, they had to manage many risks, and on the other hand, they needed to turn this threat into an opportunity. Vulnerable to such disruptions as the Covid-19, Port Cities drew in the collective innovation of their specific local community, in order to reach a better cooperation and a form of resiliency. From globalized gateways, they also tend to become regionalized driving forces. Coordinating a coalition of economic and social port actors, Port Cities can contribute to a sustainable recovery of the economy and overall to the improvement of the life quality of their citizens Some figures about the Covid-19 The expansion of the Covid-19 pandemic is accelerating in the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported more than 11 million confirmed diseases caused by the Covid-19. In some regions of the world, where it seemed controlled, we are starting to see new outbursts, while in others, the cases continue to grow. The global socio-economic and political consequences remain uncertain. Indeed, the Covid-19 has constituted the worst health crisis the world has known since the beginning of the century. The WHO has even compared it to the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918. Unfortunately, what is clear is that the human cost of such a pandemic are, and will be, dramatic. Over this health crisis, an unprecedented economic recession may cause the loss of thousands of jobs, severely affecting the living conditions of millions. The World Bank envisions a contraction of around 5,2% in global GDP in 2020, which they call “the deepest global recession in decades”. The port sector is among the most affected ones, as according to the OECD-ITF (the International Transport Forum), international maritime traffic has decreased by 20% in Asia in February, and by 18% in Europe in March. Similar figures are foreseeable for North America. Supply chains disruption, restrictive measures and sharp decline of demand are the explicative factors of such a fall in maritime traffic. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) even forecasts a 27% drop for the 2nd quarter of 2020. AIVP sharing best practices during the pandemic Port Cities play a core role in globalization and are well integrated in international flows and exchanges. They will thus have to mobilise their resources to improve their resiliency. Fortunately, during the lockdown, we could already see the capacity and will to cooperate with the community and to support the local community, administration, and businesses. AIVP, as an international organization for Ports and Cities, has been in the front row to observe all the efforts made. As the crisis was raging, we tried to keep doing what we do best: sharing experiences, deepening knowledge, giving visibility to those who commit themselves to a more sustainable development. Since March 2020, AIVP has been closely following the initiatives launched among its members to fight the pandemic. We had the opportunity to interview different ports and municipalities members of AIVP, on the 5 continents. Especially, we wanted to focus on middle-size port cities, in Africa, in Southern Europe or in Oceania, on which there has been less media focus, whereas in fact Port City cooperation has never been stronger. Now that many Port Cities are elaborating recovery plans, and re-thinking their model, AIVP takes the opportunity to reflect on what we have learnt in the past couple of months and make a synthesis of the many interviews and articles we have published during the crisis. This is our contribution to (re-) inventing the port cities of tomorrow. What ports have done during the pandemic to assist their cities As the pandemic expands worldwide, fighting the virus is a global and collective effort. In this contest, Port City actors have been able to contribute in the fight against the Covid-19, in the field of port activities but also to help health services. Maintaining activities despite the virus Governments and international institutions agree that logistic activities cannot stop even during the pandemic. Hence, port authorities needed to guarantee that their thousands of port workers had the required safety conditions. They equipped their staff with the necessary protection equipment, and in certain cases also provided it to the workers of companies operating in the port jurisdiction. Additionally, port authorities have also led awareness campaigns to promote barrier gestures. Other challenges required more creative solutions. Teleworking has been quickly implemented for those who could work from home. But workers who needed to be on site required innovative protective measures. For example, some ports such as Ghent (Belgium) and Zeeland (Netherlands) (reunited in North Sea Port authority) have been developing bicycle paths and making bikes available, in good cooperation with the municipal authorities. Soft mobility is both an environment-friendly and health protection measure. Ports' medical…