From local action into national discourse: the rise of Greenport Venlo as a Dutch international logistics hub

The rise of global supply chain systems and the dispersion of related logistics centers further inland has led to a new phase in the evolution of port systems, referred to as port regionalization (Notteboom and Rodrigue, 2005). While this process is largely the result of the decisions of shippers and logistics providers, there is scope for public policy to shape its spatial contours. This includes the strategic capacity of stakeholders to couple not only locally available assets with the needs of global flows, but also to provide meaning of a place through the constitution of symbols, frames and discourses. As such, we propose to apply a relational perspective to port regionalization, which allows us to analyze how various actors interact and form coalitions to secure their interests in a multi-scalar governance context. We will do so by presenting the rise of Venlo in the Netherlands as an international logistics hub within the corridor of the Port of Rotterdam, the seeds of which were laid in the early 1990s. This case study highlights how a local-based coalition consisting of shippers, logistics providers, local governments and the agri-food sector managed not only to insert Venlo in Rotterdam-based corporate networks and transport flows, but also to include Venlo in the national Mainport-policy discourse by invoking the frame of the 'Greenport'. The local coalition of Venlo territorialized this ‘Greenport' policy-frame to legitimize further economic development based upon logistics.