The international legal instruments in addressing piracy and maritime terrorism: A critical review

This paper critically reviews four international legal instruments in addressing piracy and maritime terrorism - UNCLOS, SUA, PSI and the ISPS Code. Piracy on high seas is currently becoming key tactics of terrorist groups - many of today's pirates are also terrorists with ideological bents and a broad political agenda. The intertwining of piracy and maritime terrorism poses substantial risks for global markets, understanding that much of the world's energy and cargoes being shipped through pirate-infested regions like Southeast Asia. Through investigating the contributions and limitations of the stated instruments, several constructive recommendations are offered to improve their effectiveness in controlling and deterring piracy and maritime terrorism from threatening the well-being of the maritime industries in the post-2008 world.     

Port Decision Maker Perceptions on the Effectiveness of Climate Adaptation Actions

Effective adaptation to climate change impacts is rapidly becoming an important research topic. Hitherto, the perceptions and attitudes of stakeholders on climate adaptation actions are under researched, partly due to the emphasis on physical and engineering aspects during the adaptation planning process. Building on such considerations, the paper explores the perceptions of port decision makers on the effectiveness of climate adaptation actions. The findings suggest that while port decision makers are aware of potential climate change impacts and feel that more adaptation actions should be undertaken, they are skeptical about their effectiveness and value. This is complemented by a regional analysis on the results, suggesting that more tailor-made adaptation measures suited to local circumstances should be developed. The study illustrates the complexity of climate adaptation planning and of involving port decision makers under the current planning paradigm.     

Logistics as a driving force for development under the Belt and Road Initiative – the Chinese model for developing countries

ABSTRACT

An important objective of “the Belt and Road Initiative” is to promote the economic growth of countries in the region. China’s successful development experience, proposed in the initial stage of reform, can be summarised as “Looking for development, building the highway first”. This study is the first to evaluate whether logistics infrastructure has indeed contributed to economic growth by employing an error correction model with panel data from 2003 to 2014. In addition, we compare the influence levels of different sectors of logistics infrastructure in different regions, i.e. developed and developing regions. We focus on developing regions as they represent good development experiences for developing countries in the Silk Road Economic Belt. For developing regions, we find that the most influential factors are telecommunication and airway transportation, which should be the foci of attention in order to promote economic growth and reduce inter-region economic inequalities. The research confirms that logistics is indeed a driving force for economic growth in China, and that the contributions of specific sectors can be a useful reference for developing countries to determine prioritisation of investment in different logistics sectors across regions.     

论香港地下空间开发的规划、立法与发展经验

 海滨城市香港山多平地少,土地是极为稀少的资源,但山岭地貌和坚硬晶质火成岩岩体很适合开发地下洞室和隧道。20世纪70年代、80年代起,就开始考虑发展地下空间,以满足都市发展的需求。为此,政府开始有计划地进行工程可行性研究,并进行相关的立法工作,为规范地下空间的开发,建立了一套完整的地下空间开发体系。结合工程实例,就香港地下空间开发的研究、规划、开发、管理和立法作简要介绍。     

Incorporating planned activities and events in a dynamic multi-day activity agenda generator

Daily agenda formation is influenced by formal commitments, satisfaction of needs surpassing some threshold and the desire to conduct particular activities in anticipation of socially and religiously driven events such as birthdays, Christmas, etc. As part of a research program to develop a dynamic activity-based model of transport demand, this paper proposes a model to represent dynamic agenda formation, including these different underlying processes. Bayesian estimation of the model is based on data collected through a Web-based survey for a sample of approximately 300 respondents. The survey uses an extension of a 1-day activity diary where respondents are asked to recall activities in retrospect and to identify planned activities in prospect. Estimation results suggest that planned activities influence agenda formation in general, but that their significance and size depends on activity type, socio-demographics and dwelling characteristics.     

The port and maritime industries in the post-2008 world: Challenges and opportunities

This article introduces the theme of this issue - the port and maritime industries in the post-2008 world - including its background and significance. A brief introduction on the contents of this issue is also given.