Spatiotemporal evolution and mechanisms of port local hinterland: a case study of Yangtze River Delta, China

With containerisation and multimodal transport development, port regionalisation links seaport systems to inland ports closely. This study applies the field model to identify the local hinterland of the main ports in the Yangtze River Delta in 2001, 2008, and 2016. The research findings indicate that the expanding local hinterlands of Ningbo Port come from the declining local hinterlands of Shanghai Port. However, Shanghai Port maintains the top port mass in the Yangtze River Delta. Through the lens of the regionalisation strategy, we find that Shanghai Port makes full use of the market-orientated tools and the central government’s support to remain the stable source of containers and capture more distant hinterland along the Yangtze River. Ningbo Port is more inclined to integrate port resources in Zhejiang jurisdiction through the administrative power of the government, ultimately leading to the formation of a port hinterland covering the whole Zhejiang jurisdiction.