Planning for Changes in Extreme Events in Port Cities throughout the 21st Century

There is a strong correlation between the world’s largest coastal cities and the location of important international ports, with 13 of the world’s 20 largest cities (based on UN, 2005) being port cities. As key nodes in transport and trade networks, ports represent critical infrastructure within the local, regional and global economy. A total of 80 per cent of world freight moves by ship, and (although recent developments in trade routes and maritime technologies have allowed ports to distance themselves from associated urban areas) port cities remain concentrations of people and locations of high economic value along the coast, which makes them particularly susceptible to climate change (see Box 2.1).