The Impact of Good Port Design On A Country's Economy

The world is a smaller place thanks to the many industrial and technological advances made in the last century. We are able to speak to people, and even see on a screen, people who are thousands of miles away on the other side of the world. We are able to travel to places in a few hours that our ancestors would have spent a lifetime getting to and we are able to import and export goods on a massive scale all across the globe. The corner shop is no longer at the end of the street it's anywhere you want it to be.

One of the major reasons for this is the sophisticated travel and transportation system that now spans the globe. In every developed country in the world rail, road and aviation systems have been designed to make the smooth movement of people and goods in and out of different countries as effective as possible. Perhaps the earliest example of this type of system being set up and recognized as such is the development of coastal ports. Port design is now a huge engineering undertaking that involves hundreds of designers, planners, engineers, construction workers and more besides and although the type of sea ports that we know today differ vastly from the first examples but the principles are largely the same and the objective certainly is.

The first examples of port design are a mix of both circumstance and necessity. Small settlements that were conveniently located neat parts of the coast that were amenable to nautical traffic would have become better known to sailors and as a consequence would have grown in reputation as years passed. Often these coastal towns became so popular that elements of port design had to be introduced years after the first imports and exports passed through them.

With the advent of the industrial revolution the import and export business took off and ports that were already thriving grew at an amazing rate. Port design at this time took into account all the needs of modern industry and adapted to its needs. Ports that were located at the mouth of a river that stretched inland became even more successful as the need to transport lots of goods in a short space of time became necessary and the river network facilitated this.

Many of these ports still exist today. Places like Liverpool next to the river Mersey and Plymouth with the rivers Plym and Tamar nearby are both still thriving ports today although they have adapted to the needs of the twenty first century and now handle more passengers that freight. Port design has also adapted to this change and now, as well as large cranes, heavy lifting equipment and large areas to accommodate storage containers, port design includes accommodation for visitors, shops and leisure facilities and a more user friendly infrastructure that is not intimidating and can help with the through flow of people.

Port design goes a long way towards how successful a port becomes and how much of an impact it has on the economy of the country it is located in. Good port design can significantly increase the rate of business in a country and this can have far reaching consequences. One of the best examples of this in the last century is the port of Hong Kong.

Well planned and creative port design, together with high standard construction, has made Hong Kong one of the major ports of the world. The deepwater seaport is a key factor in why the Hong Kong economy has become such a major player in the worlds markets. Victoria Harbour's natural shelter and deep waters are perfect conditions for berthing all types of vessels including huge container ships and the port design has taken advantage of this. Today the port of Hong Kong is one of the busiest ports in the world exporting goods all over the world.

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