The Performance of Seaport Clusters - RePub - Erasmus Universiteit ...

Chapter 10 – Structure and Performance in Seaport Clusters; Results of the Cases 125
because ports are clusters of economic activity. This explains why there is not ‘causal
relation’ between the cargo throughput and value added in ports.
Second, the agglomeration economies are regarded as more important than the
diseconomies (congestion and land prices). This indicates that further clustering of activities
in seaports is more likely than spatial deconcentration of port related activities.
Third, the presence of knowledge and information is not a strong force towards clustering in
seaports. In Durban, this factor is regarded as unimportant, in both other clusters the
importance is moderate. Even though transport and logistics chains are closely related to an
‘information chain’ and even though ports try to develop as ‘brainports’ (places where
knowledge, information and expertise is concentrated), the cluster experts regard the
presence of knowledge and information as a moderately important force for agglomeration.
Fourth, contrary to a common opinion, congestion is not regarded as very important for the
performance of a cluster. In the open interviews the reason for this was identified: port
clusters have to scale to invest in solutions for the congestion problem, such as dedicated
freight lanes, dynamic highway management and intermodal transport. Congestion in
seaports is not necessary worse than elsewhere.