THE TRANS-SCALAR DEVELOPMENT OF TRANSPORTATION HUBS-A QUANTITATIVE COMPARISON OF EUROPEAN AND EAST ASIAN CONTAINER PORT CITIES IN THE 1990s-

THE TRANS-SCALAR DEVELOPMENT OF TRANSPORTATION HUBS-A QUANTITATIVE COMPARISON OF EUROPEAN AND EAST ASIAN CONTAINER PORT CITIES IN THE 1990s-

Throughout academic literature, port cities have always been studied through separated geographical contexts (local, regional, national, global, port, city). How may a quantitative analysis highlight such complex relations? As 'glocal' conceptions and trans-scalar issues are taking a growing place in contemporary thought, port cities seem to be specific examples of such concepts. We argue that the understanding of how do these scales intervene is of crucial importance both for research and for decision makers of urban, port authorities and shipping companies. The comparison of European and East Asian port cities does confirm some contemporary trends that we already know, proving the relevancy of the multi-criteria analysis. Some findings, however, seem to balance established conceptions of port city evolution, by providing a new method to identify key factors of port city development. Urban centrality is found to still play an important role aside the technical dimension of intermediacy. This comparison also shows the very diverse levels of regional port integration within Europe and East Asia.