“Discover, imagine and take part”: 454 public contributions to design the Port Urban District
Beneath the physical dimension of the Port Urban District (Distrito Urbano Portuario) lies another layer that is just as important: the social one. With that conviction, the Port Authority of Seville and the DUP Technical Office launched “Discover, imagine and take part”, a co-design process open to the public to define what this new piece of city should be.
Workshops on the quay, online and in the neighbourhoods
The process combined in-person sessions within the port precinct itself, an online session and presentations in various districts of the city. Strategic direction was provided by Pablo Sendra, with methodological support from AIVP, Placemaking Europe and Lugadero.
The result: 454 public contributions, later distilled into 25 proposals. And what was interesting was not the quantity but the clarity of what emerged.
What the city asked for
Demand for culture was very strong: flexible exhibition spaces, festivals, open-air summer cinema, an extension of the Port Museum. But alongside it, very concrete, everyday issues emerged just as clearly: local shops, a food market, coworking spaces, a connection with the University of Seville, water sports, the recovery of the urban beach, allotments, new ways of living, shade for the riverside promenade and better links with the neighbouring districts.
What the process confirmed is that the public does not imagine the DUP as an isolated enclave or a spectacular operation. They imagine it as a neighbourhood: a place to work, shop, stroll, start a business, study, live and meet.
More than 200 participation activities
That process was not an isolated episode. Between 2020 and 2025, the Technical Office carried out more than 200 participation activities: 55 interviews, 23 meetings with communities, 15 technical seminars, 72 thematic presentations, 13 co-design workshops, 10 webinars and 3 dedicated workshops.
That conclusion runs through the masterplan drawn up by EDDEA and underpins one of its central theses: port–city integration is not achieved through a single dominant use, but through genuine diversification.
