Port Regionalization and Landlocked Hinterland: The Czech Republic

摘要

The expansion of the European Union (EU) and economic growth have propelled the devel-opment of intermodal transportation and logistics activities in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Yet, the inland location of most CEE economies requires improved connectivity to port terminals on both the Atlantic/Baltic and Mediterranean/Black Sea ranges. The paper pro-vides a broader research perspective on inland logistics platforms focusing on the CEE region, particularly as it concerns the role of the public sector in port hinterland infrastructure devel-opment. The paper identifies the current bottlenecks in logistics activity in regard to the whole range of the national transport chains. A dual regionalization process is taking place between the ports of the Northern and Mediterranean ranges and that the Northern Range is more ef-fective at servicing the CEE region, including the Czech Republic, in spite of the proximity advantage of Mediterranean ports.