MaritiMedSeaties IRN

For 5 years (2025-2029), MaritiMedSeaties will focus on major coastal cities and, in particular, the role of the sea in their habitability. The project aims to question both the maritimity of these cities (their way of appropriating the sea and the sea's contribution to their identity) and their habitability (their ability to be liveable, viable and equitable places for society in all its diversity).

Conducted from a comparative perspective (using several cities as examples) and a dynamic one (taking time into account and reflecting on the future), the project will focus more specifically on five cities of over 500,000 inhabitants located in the western Mediterranean basin (Barcelona, Marseille, Genoa, Napoli and Tunis), but will also consider with interest the situation of cities in the eastern Mediterranean.

Drawing on existing knowledge and our links with local players, we will question the link between maritimity and habitability from a dynamic perspective, i.e. to explore the future of these cities in terms of living environment and quality of life in relation to the sea. More specifically, four themes and issues will be studied: 1) adaptation to coastal risks, 2) access to coastal amenities, 3) port trajectories, and 4) the ecological and energy transition.

The network brings together some thirty researchers from France, Spain, Italy and Tunisia.

Institutionnal partners:

• ESPACE (UMR 7300), CNRS, Aix-Marseille Université, Avignon Université, Université Côte d’Azur, Aix-en-Provence (France) ;
• Research Institute for sustainability Science and Technology, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya-Barcelona Tech, Barcelona (Spain) ;
• Interdepartmental Research Center in Urbanism Alberto Calza Bini, Università degli studi di Napoli “Federico II”, Naples (Italy)
• Instituto per le tecnologie della costruzione (ITC) and Istituto di Ricerca su Innovazione e Servizi per lo Sviluppo (IRISS), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Naples (Italy)
• Dipartimento Architettura e Design (dAD), Università di Genoa, Gênes (Italy)
• Institut de recherche sur le Maghreb contemporain (IRMC), CNRS, MAE, Tunis (Tunisia)