Towards urban waterfront redevelopment : the case of Rio de Janeiro

This study aims to contribute in the discussion of topics related to urban waterfront redevelopment strategies adopted worldwide, focused mainly on the organisational capacities of governments influencing in the implementation of these large-scale revitalisation projects. The main objective of this research is to understand why there is no progress in the implementation process of "Porto do Rio" _ The Urban Restructuring and Revitalization Plan of the Old Port of Rio de Janeiro. In order to achieve this main goal, the secondary objectives of this study are to propose a theoretical model of how a waterfront redevelopment process can be organised and find out which organisational capacities have contributed to the "successful" implementation of waterfront redevelopment projects in European urban port areas. Regarding the importance of learning from the most relevant theories and international experiences in these large-scale redevelopment schemes, this research carries out a comparative analysis of European case studies _ London Docklands and Rotterdam Kop van Zuid _ through a conceptual framework with the final purpose of draw theoretical and practical recommendations for the case of Rio de Janeiro.