Towards A Sustainable Governance of Port Systems and Port Cities: A Stakeholder Engagement Approach

The relationships between ports and the urban contexts of reference have been, and still are, conditioned by a multiplicity of correlated factors. This paper aims at understanding how Port Authorities can foster sustainable governance with integrated strategies between neighboring ports and cities based on common objectives. The research analyzes the case of Italy, where a new legislative framework recently introduced the strategic structure of the Port Systems; in fact, this represents an opportunity to redefine governance and foster synergies between Italian ports and cities where they are located in. In this paper a stakeholder engagement approach is used to identify the main actors in the port-city business ecosystem and analyze their interests and preferences to foster integrated decision-making processes. Interviews with key actors have been carried out for specific cases of the ports of Augusta and Catania, belonging to the Eastern Sicily Port System Authority. The methodology was divided into three phases: verification of a SWOT Analysis elaborated by the authors based on the Structural Knowledge Framework individuated in the SSPD drawn up by the Port System Authority; then, checking of the General Objective and the Specific Port System Objectives of the Port System, identified by the System Strategic Framework of the SSPD; finally, identification of possible gaps in the planning process and/or in the legislation. From the analysis of the results obtained the priorities and, consequently, the shared objectives are different. Thus, the proposed methodology can help provide guidance in order to identify the main issues and potential so to promote port synergies and port-city integrated strategies.