About Code 24

"The project 'CODE24' aims to improve the interconnection of economic development, spatial, transport and ecological planning along the trans-European railway axis (TEN-T) No. 24 from Rotterdam to Genoa. Corridor 24 covers a number of the most important economic regions in Europe. The major European North-South transport axis through the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and Italy links the North Sea port of Rotterdam and the Mediterranean port of Genoa. Its catchment area comprises 70 million inhabitants and covers 50% (700 million tons/year) of the North-South rail-freight. The opening of the Lötschberg Tunnel in 2007 and the Gotthard Tunnel (expected in 2017) and the parallel expansion of the feeders will increase the importance of Corridor 24. Nevertheless, some major bottlenecks and a lack of trans-regional coordination still threaten the potential of the axis, limiting its economic and spatial development." (Source: Code 24 homepage)

Creation, Development and Evaluation of the Impact of Logistics Clusters

The Department of Geography leads Action 7 "Creation, Development and Evaluation of the Impact of Logistic Clusters" which is part of Work package 3. Our project report included:

• Definition of a logistics cluster
• Definition of the indicators to identify a logistics cluster
• Identification of the relevant transport and logisitics agglomerations along the corridor
• Identification of regions for case studies
• Practical application and implementation: economic promotion, regional planning, cluster management

Logistics Clusters in the Corridor Rotterdam-Genoa

The emergence of logistics clusters is an economic development which could be observed in particular locations during the last decade. These locations are primarily linked to the global trade or have the function of a hinterland hub for these global links. They are characterized by a very high amount of handled goods, an excellent infrastructure of intermodal transfer facilities and a large pool of specialized labor. These factors lead to high economic growth, which can be read on specific indicators.

While the concept of industry or production clusters is well recognized in academic research, analyses of logistics clusters are marked by a definitional ambiguity of spatial and economic delineation of the study area. Authors identify global, national or regional clusters. There is, however, no complete list of identified clusters in academic literature concerning application-oriented cluster concepts. This is partly grounded in the definitional dispute over fundamental cluster structures, which determines the discussion on cluster concepts of recent years. While it still lacks an empirical concept to identify these clusters: Is a location already a cluster if an above-average amount of companies out of a particular industry branch is in a particular location? Or is it a cluster if actors denote "from inside out" the location as a cluster?

The project report gives detailed view on the corridor no. 24 with regional case studies in Cologne, Frankfurt am Main, Mannheim, Karlsruhe, Basel, Milan, Turin and Nijmegen.

Institute of Production and Industrial Information Management

The Institute of Production and Industrial Information Management (PIM) is the second department of the University of Duisburg-Essen involved in the Interreg IVB project "Code 24". In Action 10, Prof. Dr. Zelewski's Department is focussing on "Online Rail Transport and Spot Exchange".

PIM Homepage