PORT PLANNING - JUST A BLUNT INSTRUMENT?

Port planning should take into account the following elements: port development strategy, the relationship between port and city, port financing, the key financial players, the economic impact, both local and national, and the environmental impact. The master plan usually sets out a ten-year port development option where many different interests come into play and which requires an agreed course of action. This paper examines the challenges that a port faces in achieving its primary objectives outlined in the master plan: namely, economic expansion, employment, the reinforcement of the maritime industry, the creation of value-added services benefiting city and port alike, the provision and upgrading of infrastructures and the development of an efficient management strategy. In which directions are we moving in terms of port planning models? This article is designed to stimulate a debate that may provide some of the answers for the future, where each individual port can tailor its own solution. For the covering abstract see ITRD E115303.