Frontline soldiers of globalisation: Port–city evolution and regional competition

This paper is an empirical attempt to measure the relative concentration of port–city functions in the context of globalisation. It reviews a number of urban and port issues regarding their complementary and contradictory aspects about the evolution of port cities. The main purpose is to verify how port function is more or less important to local economies, compared to other functions, through a temporal and global approach. Based on a matrix of port–city centrality and intermediacy, the main indicators available for international comparison are urban population and container throughput. An analysis of 653 places between 1970 and 2005 period is provided, using the relative concentration index (RCI) proposed by Vallega. The appropriate geographical scale to measure the relative evolution of port cities at a global level is discussed. Results tend to question previous models which consider functional and spatial separation between the city and its port as an ineluctable process. The port–city evolution appears to be gradual rather than linear or chaotic, and in many cases largely influenced by regional factors and local strategies.

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