Ass. Prof. Dr. Patrick A. Witte (1988) is Associate Professor in Spatial Planning. His research focuses on integrated spatial planning, transport infrastructure systems, and digital planning of cities. He has authored or co-authored over 50 international, peer-reviewed academic journal articles. Patrick has recently published an international handbook on spatial planning and is involved as editor or guest editor of various international journals. Supervisors: Prof. dr. Jochen Monstadt and Prof. dr. Niki Frantzeskaki Phone: +31302537336 Address: Princetonlaan 8a Office 6.18 Utrecht Science Park
Seaports, infrastructural nodes in global supply chains and production processes, are vulnerable ... more Seaports, infrastructural nodes in global supply chains and production processes, are vulnerable to flood risks: they are crisis-prone critical infrastructure (CI) systems. However, the governance of their flood resilience involves many different private and public actors in a complex institutional environment and there is no scholarly consensus about how resilience can be successfully governed. We investigate the governance of flood resilience at the Port of Rotterdam (PoR) from an institutional perspective, by studying institutional arrangements for flood resilience within and across vertical, horizontal and territorial dimensions to elucidate the strengths and ongoing challenges of shaping the port’s flood resilience. We conducted semi-structured expert interviews (n = 17) and an analysis of policy documents and legislation (n = 33) relating to flood risk management and CI protection. We find that the institutional design for flood resilience in the Netherlands consists of a comp...
Research on smart city projects and applications has been increasing in recent years (Meijer and ... more Research on smart city projects and applications has been increasing in recent years (Meijer and Bolivar 2015). The smart city concept is mostly considered from a technology-oriented perspective that stresses the use of data technologies, big data and ICT to ‘smarten up’ cities. In contrast, attention to soft aspects of the smart city—namely smart governance, people and social learning—seems to be limited in both academia and practice. Moreover, what seems to be largely missing from the literature is empirical insight into the extent to which different smart city aspects are factually known of and applied in different geographical contexts. This contribution presents a contextual comparison of smart city applications based on a mainly quantitative empirical analysis. Particular emphasis is put on the knowledge that government practitioners in the Netherlands have of smart aspects and the extent to which they are willing and able to implement smart aspects in their specific local and...
This paper argues for a specific urban planning perspective on smart governance that we call “sma... more This paper argues for a specific urban planning perspective on smart governance that we call “smart urban governance,” which represents a move away from the technocratic way of governing cities often found in smart cities. A framework on smart urban governance is proposed on the basis of three intertwined key components, namely spatial, institutional, and technological components. To test the applicability of the framework, we conducted an international questionnaire survey on smart city projects. We then identified and discursively analyzed two smart city projects—Smart Nation Singapore and Helsinki Smart City—to illustrate how this framework works in practice. The questionnaire survey revealed that smart urban governance varies remarkably: As urban issues differ in different contexts, the governance modes and relevant ICT functionalities applied also differ considerably. Moreover, the case analysis indicates that a focus on substantive urban challenges helps to define appropriate ...
Most scientific attention in port studies centres on deep-sea ports, in particular container port... more Most scientific attention in port studies centres on deep-sea ports, in particular container ports. In our paper, in contrast, we focus our attention on the determining characteristics of inland port performance in a European context, which is up to now an overlooked part in the scientific literature on port development. Based on a large-scale quantitative dataset of Dutch inland ports we performed various statistical analyses to arrive at a more detailed understanding of the question: what are the determining characteristics of inland ports? We try to explain the performance of inland ports in terms of transhipment level and growth in transhipment by several transport and economic factors. We control for differences in size, in volume growth, in type of port and in availability of a container terminal in the inland port. The findings contribute to the understanding of the performance of inland ports, as explained by general port characteristics. But also, a better understanding of ...
Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 2015
Most scientific attention in port studies centers on deep-sea ports, in particular container port... more Most scientific attention in port studies centers on deep-sea ports, in particular container ports. In our paper, in contrast, we focus our attention on the characteristics of inland waterway ports in a European context. This is an overlooked part in the scientific literature on inland port development, which is up to now mainly concerned with US-based understandings of inland ports. We try to broaden the application of the inland port concept by explaining the development of inland ports in terms of inland waterway bounded cargo throughput. Based on a large-scale quantitative dataset of inland port development in Dutch municipalities we perform various statistical analyses to arrive at a more detailed understanding of the question: What are the characteristics of European inland waterway ports and what transport and economic factors influence cargo throughput on the municipal level? The results in particular highlight the importance of the presence of a container terminal, the diversity in types of goods which are being handled by the inland port and the accessibility of the inland port relative to the regional motorway network as important factors in explaining the size and growth of inland ports. Interestingly, the popular claim in policy of ‘investments in inland port development leading to employment growth’ cannot be confirmed.
Research in Transportation Business & Management, 2012
ABSTRACT Intermodal transportation is often hampered by bottlenecks in transportation networks. O... more ABSTRACT Intermodal transportation is often hampered by bottlenecks in transportation networks. One might therefore expect a large amount of academic and policy research to be available that clearly identifies the characteristics of these problems. However, this is not the case. The knowledge presented is rather fragmented and the range of the bottlenecks presented is wide. It fails to grasp the full extent of the problem and especially the cumulating and culminating effects of bottlenecks, for the scope of the research is often limited to a one-sided (logistics) perspective. A theoretical framework has been created to explore the multiple dimensions of bottlenecks. Empirical results show that a customer perspective, which emphasises the importance of the perspective of direct users of transport infrastructure, is the most prominent aspect lacking in the present understanding of bottlenecks. Furthermore, findings suggest that the conception of bottlenecks should be extended by incorporating other (often sectoral) dimensions to tackle the cumulating and culminating effects of bottlenecks. To conclude, an integrative perspective on the analysis of bottlenecks can add important insights to the present body of knowledge. This can be considered crucial information for policymakers as well as private parties dealing with bottlenecks in theory and in daily practice.
Seaports, infrastructural nodes in global supply chains and production processes, are vulnerable ... more Seaports, infrastructural nodes in global supply chains and production processes, are vulnerable to flood risks: they are crisis-prone critical infrastructure (CI) systems. However, the governance of their flood resilience involves many different private and public actors in a complex institutional environment and there is no scholarly consensus about how resilience can be successfully governed. We investigate the governance of flood resilience at the Port of Rotterdam (PoR) from an institutional perspective, by studying institutional arrangements for flood resilience within and across vertical, horizontal and territorial dimensions to elucidate the strengths and ongoing challenges of shaping the port’s flood resilience. We conducted semi-structured expert interviews (n = 17) and an analysis of policy documents and legislation (n = 33) relating to flood risk management and CI protection. We find that the institutional design for flood resilience in the Netherlands consists of a comp...
Research on smart city projects and applications has been increasing in recent years (Meijer and ... more Research on smart city projects and applications has been increasing in recent years (Meijer and Bolivar 2015). The smart city concept is mostly considered from a technology-oriented perspective that stresses the use of data technologies, big data and ICT to ‘smarten up’ cities. In contrast, attention to soft aspects of the smart city—namely smart governance, people and social learning—seems to be limited in both academia and practice. Moreover, what seems to be largely missing from the literature is empirical insight into the extent to which different smart city aspects are factually known of and applied in different geographical contexts. This contribution presents a contextual comparison of smart city applications based on a mainly quantitative empirical analysis. Particular emphasis is put on the knowledge that government practitioners in the Netherlands have of smart aspects and the extent to which they are willing and able to implement smart aspects in their specific local and...
This paper argues for a specific urban planning perspective on smart governance that we call “sma... more This paper argues for a specific urban planning perspective on smart governance that we call “smart urban governance,” which represents a move away from the technocratic way of governing cities often found in smart cities. A framework on smart urban governance is proposed on the basis of three intertwined key components, namely spatial, institutional, and technological components. To test the applicability of the framework, we conducted an international questionnaire survey on smart city projects. We then identified and discursively analyzed two smart city projects—Smart Nation Singapore and Helsinki Smart City—to illustrate how this framework works in practice. The questionnaire survey revealed that smart urban governance varies remarkably: As urban issues differ in different contexts, the governance modes and relevant ICT functionalities applied also differ considerably. Moreover, the case analysis indicates that a focus on substantive urban challenges helps to define appropriate ...
Most scientific attention in port studies centres on deep-sea ports, in particular container port... more Most scientific attention in port studies centres on deep-sea ports, in particular container ports. In our paper, in contrast, we focus our attention on the determining characteristics of inland port performance in a European context, which is up to now an overlooked part in the scientific literature on port development. Based on a large-scale quantitative dataset of Dutch inland ports we performed various statistical analyses to arrive at a more detailed understanding of the question: what are the determining characteristics of inland ports? We try to explain the performance of inland ports in terms of transhipment level and growth in transhipment by several transport and economic factors. We control for differences in size, in volume growth, in type of port and in availability of a container terminal in the inland port. The findings contribute to the understanding of the performance of inland ports, as explained by general port characteristics. But also, a better understanding of ...
Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 2015
Most scientific attention in port studies centers on deep-sea ports, in particular container port... more Most scientific attention in port studies centers on deep-sea ports, in particular container ports. In our paper, in contrast, we focus our attention on the characteristics of inland waterway ports in a European context. This is an overlooked part in the scientific literature on inland port development, which is up to now mainly concerned with US-based understandings of inland ports. We try to broaden the application of the inland port concept by explaining the development of inland ports in terms of inland waterway bounded cargo throughput. Based on a large-scale quantitative dataset of inland port development in Dutch municipalities we perform various statistical analyses to arrive at a more detailed understanding of the question: What are the characteristics of European inland waterway ports and what transport and economic factors influence cargo throughput on the municipal level? The results in particular highlight the importance of the presence of a container terminal, the diversity in types of goods which are being handled by the inland port and the accessibility of the inland port relative to the regional motorway network as important factors in explaining the size and growth of inland ports. Interestingly, the popular claim in policy of ‘investments in inland port development leading to employment growth’ cannot be confirmed.
Research in Transportation Business & Management, 2012
ABSTRACT Intermodal transportation is often hampered by bottlenecks in transportation networks. O... more ABSTRACT Intermodal transportation is often hampered by bottlenecks in transportation networks. One might therefore expect a large amount of academic and policy research to be available that clearly identifies the characteristics of these problems. However, this is not the case. The knowledge presented is rather fragmented and the range of the bottlenecks presented is wide. It fails to grasp the full extent of the problem and especially the cumulating and culminating effects of bottlenecks, for the scope of the research is often limited to a one-sided (logistics) perspective. A theoretical framework has been created to explore the multiple dimensions of bottlenecks. Empirical results show that a customer perspective, which emphasises the importance of the perspective of direct users of transport infrastructure, is the most prominent aspect lacking in the present understanding of bottlenecks. Furthermore, findings suggest that the conception of bottlenecks should be extended by incorporating other (often sectoral) dimensions to tackle the cumulating and culminating effects of bottlenecks. To conclude, an integrative perspective on the analysis of bottlenecks can add important insights to the present body of knowledge. This can be considered crucial information for policymakers as well as private parties dealing with bottlenecks in theory and in daily practice.
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Papers by Patrick A . Witte