| Abstract: | Following a brief examination of the role of ports as foci for industrial and urban development, this paper discusses four major changes—the scale of international trade, structural changes in port activities, port industrialization, and traffic origin and destination—which are acting to alter the relationship between ports and their urban areas. Attention is then focused on the redevelopment of docklands and the need to inform public and political opinion of the importance of port activities to the development of local, regional and national economies. The use of economic impact studies to highlight the multiplier effects of port activities is discussed. |
