Port Systems in Global Competition: Spatial-Economic Perspectives on the Co-Development of Seaports

In a world where most international trade is carried by sea, each port can be seen as a unique chokepoint competing to attract ever more traffic and economic activities. However, ports can also be seen as parts of a wider system, which can be defined as a system of two or more ports located in proximity within a given area. Their fate and governance is jointly influenced when belonging to the same region, country, or transnational space. Investments, shocks, innovations, and delays occurring in one port often affect other ports within a certain spatial range and time lapse. Further understanding of such co-developments in port systems is necessary to go beyond local specificities, through a multidisciplinary and multi-level contribution.

Port Systems in Global Competition is an answer to the strong and urgent need for reviewing the relevant theories, concepts, methods, and sources that can be mobilized for the analysis of port systems. With contributions from reputable scholars coming from no less than 11 countries in Europe, Asia, and North America, this book delves into the analysis of port systems from diverse disciplinary angles (geography, regional science, economics, management, engineering, and mathematics/computer sciences), covering innovative empirical approaches to various port systems in the world. The theoretical and empirical knowledge can support and enhance decision-making in relation with the development of ports, supply chains, and transport networks in general.

This book is an ideal companion to academics and upper-level students interested in the analysis of transport and economic systems in general, as well as the effective ways to answer complex issues in transportation and socio-economic development. It will be a valuable resource for those researching or studying transportation and supply chains, maritime and port economics, as well as regional development and human geography.

César Ducruet obtained his PhD in Geography at the University of Le Havre in 2004. As senior researcher at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), he currently works at the laboratory EconomiX. His main research interests include transport and urban geography, network analysis, and Asia.

Theo Notteboom is Professor of port and maritime economics. He is Chair Professor ’North Sea Port’ at Maritime Institute of Ghent University, and a Professor at Faculty of Business and Economics of University of Antwerp and Antwerp Maritime Academy. He previously held positions as professor and foreign expert at universities in Dalian and Shanghai, China. He is vice-president (2022-ongoing) of International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME) and co-founder and co-director of Porteconomics.eu.