Small Ports, Big Challenges: Agents of Change in Urban and Regional Port Systems

While global mega-ports and port cities such as Rotterdam, Shanghai, and Los Angeles continue to dominate policy agendas and research attention, small- and medium-sized ports (SMPs) are often overlooked despite their crucial role in supporting local and regional economies, connecting communities, and cooperating with larger maritime hubs. Rather than viewing their smaller scale as a weakness, their relative invisibility can in fact be an advantage: it reduces urban agglomeration pressures and conflicts, deepens community ties, and opens up room for adaptive governance and policy experimentation. At the same time, SMPs can “borrow size” through collaboration—pooling procurement, sharing services and data platforms, coordinating inland and short-sea links, and developing interoperable systems for green fuels and charging.

This thematic issue of Urban Planning invites a reframing of SMPs: not as marginal, dependent, or secondary actors, but as agents of change with unique capabilities and regional relevance. Small ports—whether coastal or inland—often operate at a different scale, with smaller footprints, lower cargo volumes, and less extensive infrastructure than their larger counterparts. Yet this very scale, thanks to their close connections with the surrounding city and the direct hinterland, offers opportunities for innovation, experimentation, and flexibility—qualities that can be critical in addressing the environmental, social, and economic challenges of contemporary port city territories.

Rather than imposing a single definition, this issue welcomes diverse interpretations of what constitutes a "small port,” whether based on physical size, economic throughput, governance model, or position within broader ecosystems such as port systems, urban territories, or river networks. What unites these ports is not just their scale, but their capacity to contribute to the resilience and sustainability of wider urban and regional systems.

At a time of climate change, small ports offer valuable perspectives through which to approach inclusive, sustainable, and adaptive urban planning. This issue seeks contributions that deepen, challenge, and expand our understanding of SMPs in the 21st century.

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