Development Strategies for the Mediterranean Coastal Landscape: Adaptive Decision-Making to Implement Circular Economy Processes in the Waterfront of Reggio Calabria

The connection between the city and the port area is critical to sustaining the economic system of the European Union. From this perspective, harbours are among the crucial strategic points for strengthening economic competitiveness, creating local job opportunities and attracting investments and resources. To address even environmental and social challenges (in the sights of full sustainability), there is a need to develop a new “circular approach” overall, as well as within the city-port ecosystems; an approach capable of renewing the complex interactions between the two realities; the city and the port. Based on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 2030 Agenda, together with the principles of circular development, this study proposes a flexible and multidimensional decision-making process that integrates different approaches and assessment tools to manage complex interactions and conflicts within the city-port ecosystem. The research findings focus on the elaboration of potential alternative scenarios for the redevelopment of the waterfront of Reggio Calabria, in Italy, to promote a more effective functional integration between the city and the port area, favouring the adoption of a circular development model for a sustainable environmental, economic and social growth. The proposed decision-making process aims, primarily, to facilitate an in-depth analysis of the potential for regenerative transformation in a complex context, taking into account, by direct involvement, the needs of both the stakeholders and the local community.