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

Chapter 15 – Opportunities for Policy and Management in Seaport Clusters 213
• Investing in specific assets, such as cranes, warehouses and special cargo facilities.
These investments imply port authorities invest in the ‘tools’ and lease these to the
private sector. This strategy leads to a reduction of entry barriers and can improve the
performance of the port cluster. The port authority in the LMPC and Rotterdam makes
such investments. In some cases a ‘toolport arrangement’ is superior to the (common
practice) landlord model.
• The provision of office space in the port area for small and medium sized port related
firms. ‘Micro-clustering of these firms in the same area has advantages, such as the
presence of knowledge and networks. For these reason, port authorities can invest in a
self-sustaining organization that provides accommodation at market-prices in targeted
areas - when the provision of adequate office space by the market is not effective, for
instance because real estate investors are not willing to make the initial investments.
Rotterdam is the only one of the three ports where the port authority is involved in
providing office space.
• Developing and leasing modular warehouse space for clients. This would reduce entry
barriers for firms in the logistics industry. With fragmented private ownership of
warehouses, the owners have no incentive to invest in the quality of the distribution park
as a whole. As a consequence the quality of the zone can decrease. If the port authority
invests in warehouse space, it has a clear incentive to maintain a certain quality level.
This arrangement was not found in any of the three cases.
15.4 Opportunities to increase the heterogeneity of the cluster
population
Policies and strategies to improve the diversity of the port cluster are lacking in Durban and
the LMPC. In Rotterdam, the need to attract ‘new growth activities’ in the cluster, in order to
counterbalance the loss in value added and employment in cargo handling and transport, is
widely accepted. Attracting new growth activities is an opportunity to improve the diversity of
the cluster. In Rotterdam, the following growth activities have been identified (Welters and
De Langen, 2003):
• Logistics, especially ‘supply chain management’ (Haynes et al, 1997).
• Industrial tourism.