TRANSPORT GEOGRAPHY AND GEOPOLITICS

The course is an elective course for Bachelor students in Economics and Business, and Management courses. The course is included in the training offer defined in the framework of the Agreement between Ca' Foscari University and the Port System Authority of the Northern Adriatic Sea.

Knowledge and understanding:
- Understand the importance of transport as a lever for geoeconomic and geopolitical change.
- Understand the complexity of the relationships between transport and territory.
- Understand the importance that the evolution of the international transport system has for port cities.

Ability to apply knowledge and understanding:
- Recognize the importance of transport in national and international development policies.
- Understand the role that geographical and territorial factors have in the organization of transport systems.

Judgment skills
- Interpret transport policies in the broader context of international relations.
- Analyze the impacts of transport in national and international development policies.

Fundamentals of economics.
For mandatory priority exams, see:
https://www.unive.it/web/en/4624/exams

- The evolution of commercial ports: containerization and intermodality; internal nodes
- The evolution of port-industrial areas.
- The geopolitical role of transport: rail transport.
- Multinational players in maritime transport.
- Infrastructure policies and geopolitics (China, EU, USA)
- Geopolitics and choke-points
- Regional contexts: the Mediterranean and the Suez Canal; the Indian Ocean region; the South China Sea; the Arctic
- Ports and climate change: mitigation and adaptation strategies

Cesare Alemanni, La signora delle merci. Dalle caravelle ad Amazon. Come la logistica governa il Mondo. Luiss University Press, 2023.
Paolo Sellari, Geopolitica dei trasporti, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2023.
Readings suggested by the instructor during the class

Written test, with 4 open-questions; it lasts 90 minutes. Each answer is worth of 8 points. The maximum achievable score is 30 cum laude (only for those who achieve a total score of 31 or 32).
The exam aims at verifying students' preparation on the topics of the course, as well as their ability to use these concepts to interpret and summarize the relationships between transport development and geopolitics.

oral

The exam is assessed through a written test consisting of four open-ended questions, each valued at 8 points, for a total of 32 points. The duration of the written exam is a maximum of 90 minutes.

The maximum score achievable for each module is 30/30 cum laude. The grading scale operates as follows:
• Total score 0-17: Fail
• Total score 18-30: Pass (where 18 is the minimum passing score and 30 is the highest standard score)
• Total score 31-32: 30 cum laude (awarded to students who exceed the maximum score due to excellent performance)
Total Score (out of 34)
Italian Grade Description
0 – 17 Fail Insufficient
18 – 20 Pass Sufficient
21 – 23 Pass Fair
24 – 26 Pass Good
27 – 28 Pass Very Good
29 – 30 Pass Excellent
31 – 32 30 e lode Excellent with Honors (Cum Laude)

Teaching will be in presence with frontal lectures and seminars.

It is recommended to enrol in the course’s Moodle page.