Harbours are sensitive places for any country or region in which they are located. A harbour provides prosperity, trade and employment for many people in a large area around it. It is the gateway to a large hinterland. The presence of a harbour can greatly affect the shape of its hinterland: rivers are widened, bends are moved and canals are dug to create good supply and transit routes. Other types of infrastructure are also affected by the presence of a harbour.

Ever since the need for physical transport arose, harbours have played a key role: for the merchant navy, for explorative expeditions and in times of war. In today’s Internet era this will not change substantially. People want to perceive things with their own eyes, touch them, and the Internet will never be able to provide an alternative for this. This means that physical transport of goods will continue to exist alongside Internet traffic.

People tend to daydream and experience a longing when they are in a harbour. There is always a touch of romanticism. Seagoing is almost as old as humanity itself. From harbours the world was explored, and exotic spices and other goods were brought back from distant horizons. For some people the sea meant freedom. Others earned their daily bread in the harbour, where working conditions were far from romantic. Life at sea ultimately meant hard work and physical hardship as well, so it can be concluded that this romanticism was primarily a perception in the minds of people longing to escape harsh reality.

Where the skyline was once dominated by the masts of sailing ships, it is now the huge transhipment cranes that catch the eye. Activities have shifted from the ship to the shore. But little has changed essentially. The sea route changes into an overland transit route and this requires a transhipment point. The way these two systems connect determines the outlook of the landscape.

A bay, usually a natural one, with a number of small islands in front of it, lures the ships in. The hinterland casts its anchor in the form of quays. With the aid of manpower and machines the cargo is transferred to smaller boats suited to inland waterways. Any obstacles, such as sharp bends and shallow draught, are removed. Canals are dug to obtain a continuous and complete network.

This is a perfect collaboration between man and nature. Nature offers space, while man creates infrastructure. The result transcends the efforts multifold in its scope and impact. With their possibilities for trade and their air of romanticism, harbours offer food for both the body and the mind.

Rob den Boer hails from an area where the harbour plays an important role. Rob den Boer lives and works in the Netherlands, known as the gateway to Europe. Rotterdam harbour has long been the largest in the world. The Netherlands are effectively one large delta, the mouth of the two large rivers Rhine and Maas that originate all the way back in Central Europe. In addition, the Dutch have constructed a vast network of canals. Consequently, the impact upon the country is considerable, economically, geographically as well as historically.

March 2006, Rob den Boer