The scientific journal will dedicate its 2026 Special Issue to rethinking port-city territories in an era shaped by networks, logistical interdependence, environmental transition and new forms of governance
May 29, 2026. RETE, the Association for the Collaboration between Ports and Cities, has opened the new international call for papers of PORTUSplus Journal for its 2026 Special Issue, entitled “Landscapes of Port Clusters: Rethinking Port-City Territories in a Networked Era”. Edited by Beatrice Moretti.
The Special Issue aims to bring together original research, empirical analyses and case studies that help interpret the transformation of port-city territories in the current context of functional concentration, logistical interdependence and the emergence of new port clusters.
The call is based on an increasingly relevant premise in the international debate: ports can no longer be analysed solely as isolated infrastructures or as nodes linked to a single city, but rather as part of broader territorial systems connected through logistical flows, infrastructures, corridors, economic activities, urban areas, environmental spaces and complex institutional structures.
Within this framework, the concept of the port cluster makes it possible to address a new scale of analysis. These are geographically concentrated and functionally interconnected systems of ports, infrastructures and territories that are reshaping the spatial, environmental, economic, social and political dimensions of the port-city relationship.
The 2026 Special Issue of PORTUSplus seeks precisely to contribute to this reflection by promoting works capable of providing scientific knowledge and useful tools to guide future public policies, planning strategies and governance models within a broader, multi-scalar and networked dimension.
The call is open to multidisciplinary contributions from fields such as architecture, urban planning, engineering, geography, history, sociology, territorial planning, port studies, logistics, sustainability and institutional governance.
Among the topics of interest proposed by the journal are the spatial and territorial configurations of port clusters; the institutional and governance transformations involved in the shift from port systems to cluster structures; port-city-territory interfaces; the integration of infrastructure and logistics networks across different scales; environmental transitions and the sustainability of port clusters; methods and tools for spatial analysis; and comparative perspectives and future scenarios for clustered port-city regions.
The deadline for the submission of abstracts will remain open until July 20, 2026. The deadline for the submission of full papers is September 30, 2026, and publication of the Special Issue is scheduled for December 2026.
PORTUSplus Journal, published by RETE, is an international, open-access, peer-reviewed and indexed journal dedicated to the study of the relationships between ports, cities and urban-port waterfronts from a multidisciplinary perspective. The publication promotes scientific papers, original research, theoretical and empirical studies, applied experiences and good practices that help broaden the international debate on the evolution of contemporary port territories.
RETE underlines the importance of this call at a time when port-city relations require new analytical categories. The consolidation of port clusters, the growing complexity of logistics chains, environmental pressure on coastal territories, the need for urban integration and the search for more cooperative governance models place this debate at the heart of the international agenda.
“This call reinforces the role of PORTUSplus as a reference space for applied research and critical thinking on port-city territories. Port clusters require us to look beyond the physical boundary of the port and to understand the new geographies, networks and scales that are defining the future of our port cities,” said Oriana Giovinazzi, Editor in Chief of PORTUSplus.
More information and submission guidelines:
