WATERFRONT CITIES OF THE WORLD

In a world where planes make traveling to the farthest destination a matter of hours, and railways spiderweb the continents, what place do ports cities still have? They were once the centers of civilization, the gateway to commerce and adventure, but what is a port city in the modern world?Our greatest cities have always been built close to water. There are over 500 000 port cities across the globe. Hubs of military activity, commercial trade, population migrations and cultural trends, these bustling centers seemed as much part of the global community as part of their own countries.In our changing world, these cities, enriched by their history of cultural exchange, continue to have a powerful impact on human civilization. What makes these cities so different than others?  How has their access to the rest of the world made them so distinct? Why do we find them so attractive?Port cities are where a nation meets the rest of the world, where the familiar meets the exotic, where the known meets the unknown. Chicago, Oslo, Shanghai, Dublin, Auckland, Los Angeles, Cartagena, Mumbai, Amsterdam, Tangier, Seoul, Rio de Janeiro, and many more... Sophie Fouron takes us into the heart of each of these incredible cities to discover how their past affects their present, and how their present is shaping their future.