TY - JOUR
T1 - Weakest link or strongest node?
T2 - Comparing governance strategies for inland ports in transnational European corridors
AU - Witte, P.A.
AU - Wiegmans, Bart
AU - Braun, Cecilia
AU - Spit, Tejo
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - Inland ports are becoming more important in enhancing hinterland accessibility of deep-sea ports. Their increasing size and number can however also pose a threat to quality of life in adjacent urban regions, for spatial conflicts between port and urban functions may arise. Therefore, inland port governance strategies are needed. The aim of this paper is to reflect on the findings of an international comparison of municipal governance strategies for inland port development in four different countries along the Rhine–Alpine Corridor. Our findings reflect the difficult position of inland ports relative to urban functions within a densely populated corridor. Sufficient capacity is needed to prevent the occurrence of bottlenecks on links and in nodes, which could limit flows on other parts of the corridor. Increasing inland port capacity should however also be aligned with policy measures in urban regions, to avoid the overlapping of inland port and urban functions which could lead to mutually exclusive land-uses. This poses challenges in terms of inland port governance. We observe that cases in which the port and urban administrations open up the policy process to relevant private stakeholders and the civil society, integrated governance strategies for inland port development are more likely to emerge.
AB - Inland ports are becoming more important in enhancing hinterland accessibility of deep-sea ports. Their increasing size and number can however also pose a threat to quality of life in adjacent urban regions, for spatial conflicts between port and urban functions may arise. Therefore, inland port governance strategies are needed. The aim of this paper is to reflect on the findings of an international comparison of municipal governance strategies for inland port development in four different countries along the Rhine–Alpine Corridor. Our findings reflect the difficult position of inland ports relative to urban functions within a densely populated corridor. Sufficient capacity is needed to prevent the occurrence of bottlenecks on links and in nodes, which could limit flows on other parts of the corridor. Increasing inland port capacity should however also be aligned with policy measures in urban regions, to avoid the overlapping of inland port and urban functions which could lead to mutually exclusive land-uses. This poses challenges in terms of inland port governance. We observe that cases in which the port and urban administrations open up the policy process to relevant private stakeholders and the civil society, integrated governance strategies for inland port development are more likely to emerge.
KW - Inland port governance
KW - Inland ports
KW - Port-city challenges
KW - Transnational corridor development
U2 - 10.1016/j.rtbm.2016.03.003
DO - 10.1016/j.rtbm.2016.03.003
M3 - Article
SN - 2210-5395
VL - 19
SP - 97
EP - 105
JO - Research in Transportation Business & Management
JF - Research in Transportation Business & Management
ER -