Towards New Scenarios for the Integration of Europe and the Mediterranean: Prospects and Strategies for Trieste and the Upper Adriatic Region

Global economic dynamics crucially affect territorial transformations and the relations between towns, leading them to better define their functions and to internationalize their image to enhance international competitiveness. Coastal areas equipped with berths for ocean-going vessels have gained a strategic importance thanks to the progressive reduction of maritime transport costs, compared to those of land transport. Since the early ‘90s, the role of the Mediterranean has been increasingly strengthening within the context of the main routes and today, after a critical period, signs of recovery, above all in relation to the growth of the emerging economies of North African and Far Eastern Countries, may be foreseen. In this scenario, the Upper Adriatic region and its port cities, among which Trieste stands out for its historical vocation to internationalization and for its modern infrastructures, have the opportunity to create a system to reassert their strategic role within the Euro-Mediterranean area.