The Baltic Sea Region (BSR) of the nineties has undergone many fundamental economic changes. Transport relationships have been distinctly affected by the economic and political changes taking place in central and eastern Europe. Trade volume between the BSR members is predicted to double by 2010. Economic integration of the whole region has already developed rapidly; however, this trend must continue in the next decade in order to stimulate a striving economy throughout the BSR, forming a basis for coherent social development. Within this context, a sustainable regional development is increasingly becoming a substantial factor in the area of regional planning. The role played by transport relationships within this context is by no means inconsiderable. The BALTICOM project (Baltic Sea Transport Communication and Regional Development) deals with the analysis of transport chains in the BSR and the possibilities for improving and influencing these via the utilisation of modern information and communication technologies. The impact of these improvements on spatial development in different sub-regions of the BSR under different regional development conditions is analysed. As a result, BALTICOM is faced with two major challenges: the necessary optimisation of goods flows with the aim of improving the efficiency of transport chains, as well as an estimation of the resulting regional impacts.
Samenvatting