THE EMERGENCE OF A MEGA-PORT - FROM THE GLOBAL TO THE LOCAL, THE CASE OF BUSAN*

Busan port was ranked in third place of the world container ports in 2001. This port growth was implemented within a major urban settlement of over four million inhabitants. It could be explained by the insertion of the port city in the maritime networks of the world leading ocean carriers. The co-existence of port and urban functions in the same area could lead to asphyxia. The efficient articulation of reticular and territorial logics, in different scales, from the global to the local and conversely, is a necessity to improve the development of the port city. Copyright (c) 2005 by the Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG.