Abstract Hinterland transport connectivity is being acknowledged as the second most important factor driving port competitiveness after port costs. Deepening the existing understanding on how the port-hinterland concept has evolved over time, as a result of disruptive changes on trade and transport, can provide a solid basis for ports to enhance their hinterland intelligence, and thus devise better informed and more effective hinterland development strategies. The main aim of the paper is therefore to provide a comprehensive and critical review of port-hinterland related research. It starts from early approaches introduced at the beginning of the previous century. It proceeds to the late 1960s, when containerization significantly transformed port-hinterland networks, and continues till today examining contemporary port-hinterland relationships. The latter have driven the transition from distance-decay to more functional approaches for port-hinterland analysis, within which the role of distance still remains valid but valued differently and within a broader context, where a number of additional parameters are also taken into consideration. With hinterland network dynamics playing now a more important role than the individual performance of ports, forward-thinking approaches need to benefit from enhanced extended and regional network intelligence, deepening the understanding and facilitating the timely evaluation of network impacts resulting from new business trends and models, market developments and innovative technology adoption, which are now taking place a lot faster than before.

中文翻译：

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港口腹地概念演变：批判性审查

摘要 腹地交通连通性被认为是继港口成本之后推动港口竞争力的第二重要因素。由于贸易和运输的颠覆性变化，加深对港口腹地概念如何随着时间演变的现有理解，可以为港口增强其腹地情报提供坚实的基础，从而设计更知情和更有效的腹地发展策略。因此，本文的主要目的是对港口腹地相关研究进行全面和批判性的审查。它始于上世纪初引入的早期方法。它继续到 1960 年代后期，当时集装箱化显着改变了港口-腹地网络，并一直持续到今天研究当代港口-腹地关系。后者推动了从距离衰减到港口腹地分析的更多功能方法的转变，其中距离的作用仍然有效，但在更广泛的背景下价值不同，其中还考虑了许多其他参数。由于腹地网络动态现在比港口的个人表现发挥更重要的作用，前瞻性方法需要受益于增强的扩展和区域网络智能，加深理解并促进及时评估新业务趋势和模式带来的网络影响、市场发展和创新技术采用，现在发生的速度比以前快得多。