Archives de catégorie : Anglais

P&T in brief: Report over “The Asian Mediterranean: Port Cities and Trading Networks in China, Japan and Southeast Asia, 13th-21st Century” by F.GIPOULOUX

Book cover. Source: Angela Schottenhammer (http://chinaperspectives.revues.org/6499; accessed online 2 July 2014)
Book cover. Source: Angela Schottenhammer (http://chinaperspectives.revues.org/6499; accessed online 2 July 2014)

The blog Carnets du Centre de Chine sheds light over the publication of the English version of François GIPOULOUX’s book: La Méditerranée asiatique. Villes portuaires et réseaux marchands en Chine, au Japon et en Asie du Sud-Est,xviexxisiècle (Paris, CNRS Éditions)  published in 2009.

In 2009, François Gipouloux published his La Méditerranée asiatique. Villes portuaires et réseaux marchands en Chine, au Japon et en Asie du Sud-Est,xviexxisiècle (Paris, CNRS Éditions), providing scholars for the first time with a general Braudelian synthesis that compared the European and the Asian “Mediterraneans.” He distinguished three different Mediterranean spaces: the European Méditerranées of the repubbliche marinare, the Hanseatic League in the Baltic Seas, and the Asian Mediterranean comprising the Sea of Japan, the Yellow Sea, the South China Sea, the Sulu Sea, and the Sea of the Célèbes. (…)

The strength of Gipouloux’s argumentation, however, lies not in historical China but in the present, especially in the decades after the gradual opening of China with the reforms of Deng Xiaoping. I would therefore recommend this book to anyone who is interested in a general Braudelian synthesis of the Mediterranean in a real global context, to scholars who look for similarities between not only Asia and Europe but also past and present, and to those who want to know more about the economic development of modern Chinese port cities – including cities such as Hong Kong or Singapore – and parallels between Chinese and other Asian port cities located in the Asian maritime corridor (…).

Read Angela Schottenhammer’s complete report over The Asian Mediterranean: Port Cities and Trading Networks in China, Japan and Southeast Asia, 13th-21st Century, initially published on China Perspectives via the Carnets du Centre de Chine’s page

P&T from abroad: Rethinking Brooklyn-Queens Waterfront Transit

Source: "brooklyn+queens" taken on 22 November 2013 by Lana Lee via Flickr (https://www.flickr.com/photos/lanahlee/10995037833/in/photolist-hKArFP-fUALcE-gfAUWT-7u99iV-aYX3tF-9AhzJL-ah8Quv-8StYna-dqD6CJ-dW8bPt-7RNHAh-8mLjef-cFiR1C-cFiQTY-cFiTjL-cFiTuN-cFiTNb-cFiSnL-cFiW19-cFiS4U-cFiQXA-cFiSx1-cFiT89-cFiRCs-cFiQNm-cFiU9f-cFiUYY-cFiR57-cFiSbm-cFiTEf-cFiW3S-cFiV47-cFiTBf-cFiVR1-cFiRM9-cFiUzb-cFiT43-cFiRkb-cFiSGW-cFiTZN-cFiSqj-cFiToU-cFiVeo-cFiRvW-cFiQib-cFiQdA-cFiTJE-cFiRXU-cFiSP7-cFiVvW). All rights reserved.
Source: “brooklyn+queens” taken on 22 November 2013 by Lana Lee. All rights reserved. Accessed via Flickr (https://www.flickr.com/photos/lanahlee/10995037833/in/photolist-hKArFP-fUALcE-gfAUWT-7u99iV-aYX3tF-9AhzJL-ah8Quv-8StYna-dqD6CJ-dW8bPt-7RNHAh-8mLjef-cFiR1C-cFiQTY-cFiTjL-cFiTuN-cFiTNb-cFiSnL-cFiW19-cFiS4U-cFiQXA-cFiSx1-cFiT89-cFiRCs-cFiQNm-cFiU9f-cFiUYY-cFiR57-cFiSbm-cFiTEf-cFiW3S-cFiV47-cFiTBf-cFiVR1-cFiRM9-cFiUzb-cFiT43-cFiRkb-cFiSGW-cFiTZN-cFiSqj-cFiToU-cFiVeo-cFiRvW-cFiQib-cFiQdA-cFiTJE-cFiRXU-cFiSP7-cFiVvW).

James BRASUELL’s post “Transit Planning for the Future of the Brooklyn-Queens Waterfront” published on Planetizen sheds a light on a very interesting contribution from John PETRO that was published on Streetsblog New York City.

 Through “Sooner or Later, the Brooklyn-Queens Waterfront Needs Better Transit”, PETRO analyses the opportunity of setting new transit options to accommodate the Brooklyn-Queens waterfront transformation. This ongoing process is related to the tremendous dynamism of real estate activity and the renewed attractiveness of the area that goes beyond the city level.  Taking into account the economic development of the area as well as demographic trends, John PETRO insists on projects allowing people to travel along the waterfront as well as to go inland easily. He explores proposals regarding bus services, ferries and bicycle infrastructure on top of the traditional subway connection.

This contribution confirms the importance to consider waterfronts as part of the whole city development as they largely impact not only the city’s skyline but its general attractiveness as well.

Putting into practice the concept of “Energy manager”: Port of Antwerp’s green strategy

As every European seaport, the Port of Antwerp (PoA) is more and more concerned by environmental issues.

So as to take into account this element into its day-to-day activity, the Port Authority of Antwerp has decided to consider sustainability as a proper component of its strategy. In that vein, PoA namely published a Sustainability report in 2012.

This commitment has been fruitful since PoA received the Flemish Institute for Logistics’s (VIL) Lean and Green Award in December 2013, as announced last January by the port itself. This award recognizes PoA’s commitment to reduce its CO2 emissions from its logistics activities by 20% over a period of 5 years.

One has to mention that besides this plan, the port authority, chose to impulse a common dynamic in this way by informing other companies in the port and inviting them to follow the Lean and Green program.

Hence, PoA can be seen as a green port and an energy manager as defined by ACCIARO, GHIARA, and CUSANO (ACCIARO et al., 2013) down below:

“Port authorities are therefore starting to develop active plans aiming at reducing or optimising their energy processes. These plans by necessity include port operators and port users, but also energy grid managers and local community managers. The energy networks within the port become more complex, and port authorities are becoming a conscious player that needs to address environmental concerns, energy efficiency and sustainability proactively.

A suitable definition of the port authority as an energy manager refers then to its role in planning, regulating and monitoring energy use within the port. In this function the port authority aims to improve energy efficiency by evaluating energy use and implementing new policies and changes where necessary.

The port authority as an energy manager coordinates all aspects of energy management, from energy efficiency and reduction of the carbon footprint of the port to waste management and sustainable development by:

  1. Encouraging the use of renewable/sustainable energy resources within an organisation or community
  2. Deriving solutions for carbon management
  3. Raising the profile of energy conservation.[1]

The first results of Antwerp’s plan are expected in 2015.

To be continued, then!


[1] ACCIARO et al., 2013, The role of ports as an energy manager, IAME 2013 Conference, Marseille, France, 24 pages. Pp.7-8.